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thebiggestshrimp · 3 years

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A Special “Souvenir”: part 4

NSFW (finally)

MLQC: Victor X MC (featuring Kiro)

Potential Spoilers!! smut and fluff! The last three parts were world building fluff, yk basically my headcannon. If you like smut that has established characters with relationships, then this is for you!!

Perspective Switches: I like to occasionally switch the perspective to one of the boys, in this case being Victor and Kiro. You’ll notice it when there is a double space break in the flow of the story. All I’m doing is switching to what I think would be a more interesting perspective to read the events from. When the double space ends, we switch back to MC perspective.

Word Count: 3.1k (oh man)

Part 3 link

Part 4

“What would the lovely couple like to order today?” questioned the always smiling Mr. Mills.

Calling you two a couple shocked you, and Kiro too by the way his knee jerked and slammed into the table. You thought you heard a grunt from the kitchen, thinking it was funny even Victor was bothered by that simple statement.

“Ahhh, can we have another minute or so?” Kiro said in a slightly pained voice, attempting to convince you he didn’t just hit his knee on the table. “There are just so many delicious options and I’m having trouble deciding”.

Mr. Mills warm smile never faded as he spoke. “No worries, I’ll come back in a few minutes then.”

Although you were having the same problem as Kiro, you knew for sure you wanted some of Victor’s pudding. It had been 2 months since you last convinced him to make you a bowl, using the fact that he called your report “Alright” instead of “Not bad” as reason enough to reward you.

You only just now realized you had forgotten to correct Mr. Mills on his incorrect assumption that you and Kiro are dating. It was already too late to say anything, and denying it now would make things awkward. Besides, you knew that you were here to platonically enjoy dinner with your friend, so what others say shouldn’t bother you.

Oh but how it does bother you.

You looked towards the kitchen, wondering what payment Victor had in mind for the two of you. You were thinking he’d make you run to the market to pick him some fresh produce like last time. But then again last time you two had a moment. Or well, you thought you did.

The way that question accidently slipped from your lips. The way his eyes lingered on yours for so long while he inched ever so closer to you.

“Victor, have you ever been with someone from work?”

You felt your breathing slow a bit; you were nervous. He was your boss, and you had figured he would never consider you since you worked together, and well, because you were pretty sure he didn’t think of you in any way besides a friend.

But that one moment made you feel like maybe, just maybe, he reciprocated your feelings, even if it was just a little.

Coming back from your daydreaming, you realized Mr. Mills had returned. Kiro’s voice was directed to you.

“______, is it okay if I order for us both? I think I have a good idea of what you’d like”.

“Oh, yes, that would be fine, thank you”.

You once again turned your head towards the kitchen, swearing you caught a glimpse of the elusive chef. You were itching to see him, even though you were not excited to hear him complain about how you failed to turn in your report.

“Does that sound good with you, ________?”

You snapped your head back to Kiro, and shook it. What did you just agree to?

The wait for the meal was tedious. It wasn’t like you didn’t have anything to talk to Kiro about, but because you were already so distracted by the semi-lewd thoughts of your boss, your heart wasn’t really in the conversation.

Kiro noticed this, wondering what he was doing wrong to make you this uninterested in him. He quickly decided to change the topic to something he figured you’d like better.

“How was the producing of the last Miracle Finder Show? I watched it while I was in Iceland and knew it had to be a soul crushing production”.

This finally did get your attention, finally able to vent about all the hard work and late (and you mean late) nights spent at the office making sure it was as perfect as it could be. Even though the production was, as Kiro put it, a bit “soul crushing”, it was worth it to see how popular it was with the audience.

“Honestly, that’s my favorite show we’ve ever produced. It took a lot of effort from the whole team, and everyone really pulled through to get this as perfect as possible”

You rambled on and on, barely letting Kiro say anymore then “Mmhmm” and “Oh wow”, but he was ecstatic to get you talking like this, especially since he knew.

He knew you had feelings for your boss. He had realized it when you told him you were busy the Saturday he tried to ask you out “on a date” to the park. He decided to head out to the park anyway (in disguise) and spotted the two of you. The stoic look on the CEO’s face made it hard to judge how he felt, but the fact that he was even out with you was enough to know that he definitely felt something. And God dammnit, why was he so handsome?

But when he saw your face, the way you smiled at him and the subtle touches shared between you. He knew how you felt. So why didn’t you look at him like that? What was the CEO doing right that he wasn’t?

He would find out. And he would change your mind. He wanted you and he would get you.

Mr. Mills was masterfully carrying three trays of food, each holding a delicious meal hand prepared by Victor. He was in the kitchen, cleaning up and preparing to finish up by making his pudding. The creamy yet almost jiggly consistency was enough to melt the tastebuds of anyone who ate it, including Victor. But tonight, he was careful making it (adding in a tad bit more love then normal, although Victor would deny it), adding two cherries on top just for you. He stored it in the fridge, hidden behind a few of his ingredients so that it would surprise you. While sweeping the floor, he overheard some conversation between Kiro and you. It seems he had gotten you talking about work, and now all he could hear was your rambling on how stressed out you were while working the last month.

He was hoping you weren’t openly bad-mouthing him to a stranger, but knew you wouldn’t have anything truly hurtful to say about him.

He smiled thinking about how he would make you pay for your meal.

“I can’t believe you let me ramble for like, 20 minutes Kiro! It’s embarrassing to just vent in public like this!” You half-whispered jokingly to Kiro.

Kiro smiled that celebrity smile of his. “Mmm, but you it was so cute to listen to you. Besides, isn’t it the job of a friend to always listen to another?” He then playfully kicked your leg under the table.

“Hey!” you said with a giggle. “We’re at a restaurant! Save the childish actions for the park”. Even though you said it a bit of a harsh tone, he smiled mischievously. Then the barrage started.

Playful kick after kick came from Kiro. You finally gave in and played his game, sending your patented “double-kick” his way. The fight ended with the two of you laughing hysterically, just like children.

When you calmed down a bit, you put your head in your hands and looked at Kiro. He was completely caught off guard by how cute you looked right now. He looked to the right for a moment, although all he wanted to do was strip you of all your clothes and turn you around on this table and smother you with kisses and-

“Well, I guess it’s time to pay, you know, figure out what “punishment” the chef has in store for us”.

Coming back from his daydream, Kiro nodded in agreement.

“I’ve gotta go to the bathroom real quick, but go ahead and call Mr. Mills over so we can receive our ‘punishment’”. He enunciated ‘punishment’ with air quotes and a wink.

With an already hard member, Kiro speed walked to the bathroom. He had to get rid of this fast.

Alone with your thoughts, you sat there for a moment, thinking that you had forgotten something. Shaking it off, you called Mr. Mills over and told him you and Kiro had finished your meals.

“I’ll take you and your dates dishes for you then” said Mr. Mills.

With a face full of red, you quickly corrected him. “Oh but we’re just friends! I didn’t get the chance to tell you earlier”.

Mr. Mills only looked at you with a smile, and nodded saying “Of course, sorry for my mistake”. Skillfully holding the dishes in his hands, he turned towards the kitchen and remarked, “The chef will be glad to hear that”.

A bit confused by what he meant, you waited for Kiro to return, or for Mr. Mills to tell you what the chef had in mind as payment. Mr. Mills returned first.

“The chef has decided that you will be coming back to help in the kitchen, Mrs. ______”. He looked around for a second, and added, “I’ll wait here for your friend to return so that I may tell him what his payment will be”.

You felt bad that you had to leave without being able to talk to Kiro more, but your mind quickly switched over to the verbal abuse you might receive from your boss when he reminds you of your missing report.

You walk into the kitchen to a familiar, sexy voice.

“Glad you could make it”.

You met with a pair of gorgeous violet eyes, lingering on them for a moment too long. You blushed and turned your head to the countertop, pretending like he wasn’t the most interesting thing to look at.

You decided to open up with the report, figuring that apologizing while he seemed to be in a good mood was the best move.

“So, uh, I may have forgotten to get the report to you before 5 PM today, but don’t worry I have it now and can get it before I leave or right now if you-”.

Victor waved his hand, cutting you off. “Don’t bother, I wasn’t at the office all day, so you would never have been able to give it to me anyhow. However, I expect that report to be in my hands at 8 o’clock sharp tomorrow morning”.

You unintentionally let out a sigh, glad that he wasn’t angry. You felt that you could finally relax. As tired as you were, you were ready to finish whatever Victor had in mind and head home for the most peaceful sleep you could imagine.

“Open the fridge”. Said a particularly demanding voice.

You open the French door refridgerator, bending over to look inside, realizing you don’t actually know what he wants you to look at.

Little do you know, Victor was admiring the curves of your body, which lead into your rather plump ass. Before you turned around, he handed you a list.

“These are ingredients that I need for making my pudding, make sure I have enough of each”.

Shuffling through some of the products in his fridge, you notice a delicious looking dessert hidden in the back.

“Oh my god, Victor did you make pudding?!” You couldn’t hold back your excitement, reaching for the pudding to take it out.

Seeing your childlike reaction made Victor smile, which you turned around just in time to see. Blushing for the umpteenth time today, you thanked him for making your favorite.

“It’s for you to take home. Remember, you haven’t paid for your meal yet”.

You look up at him expectantly, thinking he would have you clean the dishes or mop the floor. Instead, he steps closer to you, and leans down so that you are both eye level.

You freeze, feeling his breath on your skin, the eye contact between you never breaking. You felt like you could feel the tension in the air. Victor finally broke it.

“I just have a few questions for you. That will be your payment”.

You nodded, still frozen.

“Please be honest with me, right now we are friends, Victor and _______, not boss and coworker.”

You only continued to look at his pretty violet eyes. He seemed a bit anxious. It felt like he wasn’t completely confident in himself, unlike how he always appeared at work.

He let out a sigh. “Dummy”.

He continued. “I like you”.

Your mouth dropped in shock. Did Victor just say he likes me?? Did he seriously say that? What?

You didn’t know how to say what you were thinking, but you knew just how you felt. You were estatic to hear that he felt the same. Oh what a wonderful end to your day.

“Victor I, I feel the same. I just thought that you didn’t feel the same and that if I admitted my feelings you would shut me down for being unprofessional and that it might ruin...”

Victor’s eyes told you to be quiet. A smile crept onto Victor’s face, and a laugh escaped you. You rambled again, how embarrassing.

Victor took a step away from you, allowing you room to breathe. You thought you were finished with your payment, but little did you know what Victor had in mind.

“I guess I should go see if Kiro is finished with whatever task you handed him, he is my ride home after all”.

Victor folded his arms, leaning on the countertop. “Dummy, I don’t remember saying that you had paid for your meal. Come here”.

You turned around, nervously. Did he want a kiss? Was this how he wanted to officially start your relationship? I thought we would talk about it some more privately.

You stepped right in front of him, looking up at him. The height difference forced you to strain your neck to meet his gaze.

Victor’s voice lingered in the air. “Do you want to have some fun before I send you home?”

Unsure of what he meant, you nodded.

With your consent, he picked you up and lightly set you on his countertop, leaning over to place kisses on your lips. He moved to your neck, loosening his tie. He gently pushed your legs a part, nibbling at your panties. You could feel how wet he was making you. Victor reached up your thighs, his big hands gripping them tightly. He wrapped his pinkies around your panties, pulling them down and past your feet.

You heard a low throaty growl come from Victor, and it only turned you on more. He flicked his tongue on your clit. The tingling sensation made your body move erratically. He looked up at you, a smile clearly visible on his handsome face. He continued teasing your slick with his fingers and tongue, occasionally fighting the urge to reach down and grope himself.

“Can I put my fingers in?”

You only moaned in response.

Victor stopped all movement and met your eyes.

“I want a yes from you before I continue”. His tone was demanding, almost hungry sounding.

Flushed red, you opened your mouth to meekly say, “Yes, please Victor”.

He moved his hands back to your slick, slowly positioning his fingers to your entrance. Gently, he pushed his index finger in. The high-pitched moan let Victor know you were having fun.

“Good”, He said through a smile. “I’m glad I can make you feel this good with nothing but my fingers, but next time you’ll repay the favor to me”.

Victor prepared to put in his middle finger, but suddenly you spoke up.

“More, I want more of you...”

Elated to hear your excitement, he put in four fingers, using his middle and ring finger to hit your pleasure spot. Rubbing it slowly, then picking up his pace when your moans quieted down. With his tongue he licked and sucked on your clit, bringing wave after wave of pleasure.

Although you were no stranger to sex, you were pretty sure you had never cum before. You pretended, because you really didn’t want to make your ex’s feel like they were inadequate, but here, right now with Victor, he completely blew everyone else away. You didn’t know what it felt like to be on the edge, usually being too tired after work to commit to your full pleasure. But the erotic feelings deep in your core made it impossible to focus on anything.

You only knew what you wanted right now.

Fighting the “growing” urge to touch himself, Victor focused on making you cum. He wanted you, he wanted to fill you up and refuse to stop until he chased his own release. But right now, he wanted to make you feel so satisfied that you would come back for more immediately.

Besides, Victor felt that truly intimate sex should be saved for the bedroom, especially the first couple of times. But that wasn’t going to stop him from making you cum now.

You were nearly there, unintentionally squeezing your walls around his fingers. You had asked him to stop, not really meaning it, but because you were so unfamiliar with this foreign feeling your brain was begging for the pleasure to end. You only wanted this to end in one way though, and so did Victor.

“Oh god, oh god, oh myyy, Victor!!!” He only continued with his motions, never ceasing.

You lost all thought, unaware of how loud you were being. “I’m gonna cum, ohhh!”

Nothing but pleasure ran through your mind, your legs shaking around Victor. You had closed your eyes, breathing heavily, attempting to calm down. Once your breathing slowed, and your made eye contact with Victor, he fully removed his fingers and stood up. He went to grab a towel from the drawer, wiping his face and fingers clean before handing it to you.

Victor was grinning, trying and failing to hide it. “I hope that this experience was satisfactory for you”.

You rolled your eyes at his ridiculous comment. He knew you enjoyed yourself.

“Well, this was quite the start to our relationship, I guess I’ll see you at work tomorrow then?”

“Mmm, you will. I’m sure your friend is waiting at his car for you”.

A bit sad to leave, you grabbed your purse and started to walk out, wen Victor’s hand met yours.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?”

Confused, you cluelessly blinked at him.

He let out his second sigh of the day (ever since you’d met, you had been keeping track of the number of times he would sigh when talking to you). “Dummy, you’re leaving the pudding I worked so hard to make for you”.

Embarrassed, you took the cute little bag he had put it in and then turned to leave.

Behind you Victor��s voice, as sexy and suave as it was, left you with one last comment.

“When you eat my pudding later, let it be a reminder to you of what happened here today”. He let out a mischievous laugh. “A souvenir, if you will”.

I seriously have to apologize for leaving yall hanging for like a month! I was very busy and rarely found time to work on this, so thank you for being patient and I hope yall like it ;)

#mlqc fanfic #mlqc smut #mlqc victor #mlqc mc #pleaseforgivemeforslackinglikethis #mlqc souvenir #mlqc kiro #mlqc fluff

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tundrainafrica · 3 years

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Title: Lovebug (2/10)

Summary:

“It might be a bug.”

“A bug?”

“Sometimes the developers of this application make mistakes. This is our first time meeting I’m sure so…Isn’t it a bit weird that we just met for the first time and it rings like this? And for two strangers to coincidentally ring each other’s alarms?“

Levi is the developer of the Love Alarm App and Hange is married to Zeke.

Link to cross-postings: AO3

Other Chapters: 1 3 4 5

Notes: I was torn between publishing the next chapter of lovebug or outlier tonight so I opted to just go for lovebug. I'll post the next chapter of outlier mid next week. As always, feedback is very much appreciated.

“We’re gonna delay the release of our next fix…” Levi repeated, just a little slower that time. He didn’t trust himself then to speak in anything faster or with a tone any louder.

It was too early in the morning for a meeting, just a little past eight in the morning. He was called into Erwin’s office right after arriving into company grounds and Erwin, a natural early bird, was talking louder than what could have been considered bearable for Levi.

At eight in the morning though, not a lot of things were bearable, especially if they involved a huge change of plans and a glaring reminder that he had a long work day ahead of him.

More importantly, Erwin’s voice was grating in a way that most bosses’ voices were grating when laced with a little more urgency than necessary. “Yes Levi, we’re delaying our fixes indefinitely, not just for Love Alarm but all of our other apps as well.”

Levi raised his eyebrows. “Really? You know we’ve been announcing this big fix for months.”

“I’ve contacted the marketing team. We are pushing the fixes back a week. You think that will be enough for you to finish everything you need?”

Levi shook his head. “There’s no need to push back the release. I can work on this bug now and I can have the other developers and the support team work on getting the regression testing done and getting the release out.”

Erwin shook his head. “I do not want to give Mr. Jaeger the impression that we aren’t prioritizing his complaints. Levi, you have to understand. He’s an important client.”

“I understand that. And I will be on top of things. I’m testing this issue myself.” Most days, Levi left the testing option to the support team. Given the nature of the bug though and the severe urgency of getting it fixed, it had been an easy decision for Levi to take it upon himself.

Erwin hummed in approval. “Yes and I’m happy to hear that you're going to be investigating this bug. I would rather that we didn’t release anything while investigating this.”

“May I ask why? This bug doesn’t involve any of our other functionalities. I can test this myself.”

Erwin hummed. “Zeke Jaeger is an unpredictable man. I don’t think he would appreciate us improving our product while such a glaring bug still exists. He is a very vocal and he might give us some bad press.”

“Oh?” Levi heard the derision in his own tone then, a smooth yet venomous sound. Zeke Jaeger had been outwardly friendly yet for some reason Levi couldn’t explain just yet. He wasn’t at all drawn by the charisma that accompanied it. In fact, the blonde had just been annoying and the conversation only cemented Levi’s first impression of Zeke Jaeger as bad, maybe even terrible.

What the hell does Hange see in him? He added to himself then. How that had entered his own contemplations then, he didn’t know. He quickly brushed it away and mustered the most seemingly uninvested face he could make then.

Erwin had that special talent of seeming uninvested either. As he settled on the sofa in front of Levi, he mixed the coffee just a little too loudly. He had an aura about him that very much meant business. “Have you done some prior investigation?”

“I did,” Levi said. As he soon found out, that aura was contagious.

“Anything new?”

“I’m entertaining the idea that what if…. The application is working fine?”

“Can you explain why his partner had two hearts while he had none?”

Levi cleared his throat. “Assuming the application is working perfectly, we can draw two conclusions. One, someone in love with Hange Zoe had their application on and Two, Hange Zoe isn’t in love with Zeke Jaeger.” That last conclusion couldn’t have easily been true, but still such words left such a sweet aftertaste in Levi’s mouth that he had to make some considerable effort not to smile.

Erwin raised his eyebrows inquisitively. “Any leads on whose application could have been on?”

It had taken some strength, some self confidence and some self discipline on Levi’s side to pull his phone out then. “My love alarm was on yesterday, I forgot to turn it off after the demo…” He navigated to the ‘history’ tab and opened his history to the exact time to late afternoon yesterday.

One person nearby is in love with you. Levi read silently to himself. In that split second, he was contemplating display issues and front end bugs that maybe just maybe accidentally chalked Hange’s heart as ‘love.’ It was highly unlikely though so even before that idea had ripened into something worth an explanation and a support ticket, Levi brushed it aside.

“So your application was on the whole time.” Erwin murmured, looking intently at the phone in front of him.

Levi nodded. “But it’s a good step in the right direction. That means there’s a bug to investigate after all. I just have to isolate it to either Hange Zoe’s application build or mine,” he explained.

“That seems promising and do you need any help organizing a meeting with her.”

“She’s coming today for a little testing.”

“Just like my best engineer to think a few steps ahead.” Erwin asked, a smile curling up his lips. “And you think you can get it done within a week?”

“If all goes well… Even less than a week.”

***

It had turned out that that small meeting had worked well to organize Levi’s thoughts. He had a quick action plan from there and with an action plan, a new burst of motivation, or at least enough of it to carry him from Erwin’s room to his own small office space in a little less than five minutes.

A week to investigate. Levi thought to himself as he leaned back on his office chair. He looked back up at the ceiling for a good few seconds before writing his deadline down on the white board next to him.

He didn’t need that whiteboard, their workflow trackers and excel sheets worked well to always keep Levi in the right state of mind. Yet there was something organic about white boards, something natural about being able to write the numbers with his own hand, freely changing his fonts with just the slight of the hand, impulsively changing formats at just a quick motion.

So he kept it there next to him, a large annoying waste of space to most people. But Levi had taken great pains to make it look organized in his room, measuring each frame to the millimeter. It was a large clean slate right next to his desk in his very small office. And more importantly, it was something that was very much his to play around with like he wanted to.

Under the deadline, he put the new release date of their fix.

We’re delaying the release of the next fix by a week.

Such wise words from someone who didn’t know how the investigation process actually worked. But with an employee and boss relationship, emphasis on Levi being the employee, he had to make it work. That’s how it had always been in the office. Erwin wasn’t a developer. He was a manager. And Levi was being paid by him.

Levi though never liked the idea of delaying fix releases. Once the date was announced, he liked to make sure all of the quality assurance testing and the regression testing was done two weeks ahead. And with that habit becoming custom for the Love Alarm project, he was sure they would have managed to make the release next week. Staring at the workflow interface, he noted the bar was more than half full already, most bugs were tagged as fix. All test builds were submitted and passed and they could have easily moved on to the final regression testing before release.

And regression testing never actually failed. The Love Alarm app after all was a very functionally simple application.

With the weight of a wasted timely release and the powerlessness of corporate politics bare on his back, Levi let out a long sigh.

He opened up his slack channel and typed out a few words.

We’re delaying the next fix release.

But it wouldn’t just be the Love Alarm which would be affected, all the other applications would be affected as well. His notifications exploded within five seconds, all feedback from each time. Levi started to wonder, maybe he should have put everything in one message.

So he edited his old message.

We’re pushing it back a week.

Under that, he put a new date and time as a reminder to all other employees. There were many why’s, many protests and his application continued to shake with notifications.

He checked the time on his phone. Hange had agreed to meet at nine and she should be texting soon. With little to no brains pace to create a summary of his meeting with Erwin in less than ten minutes, Levi typed out two words.

Erwin’s orders. Without waiting for anymore protests, he closed his laptop, packed up his things and ready to move to the small conference room he had reserved for him and Hange.

It was a few floors below. A small room among others but Levi was familiar enough with the layout of their offices to know it was very much soundproof.

Any unwelcome alarms, unwelcome notifications and unwelcome conversations would stay in that room. Even before Levi had dropped off his things in the conference room, Hange had already texted.

Her car was by the gate already.

Meet in the lobby. Levi texted back as he quickened his pace, quickly turning back towards the elevator, laptop bag still in hand.

He could have been too slow. Or Hange could have just been too fast but by the time he had arrived in the lobby, she was already on one of the seats next to the reception, playing around with her phone.

She was wearing a light sweater, her brown hair was pulled up messily into a half ponytail. Levi though had to note that it still looked very much like it fell into place. For a second, he had given her a good onceover, admiring everything at once.

Only a split second later, he was cruelly reminded that he had made her wait, long enough for her to have to sit down in one of the lobby sofas. “How long were you waiting?” It wouldn’t have been the first greeting Levi would have liked to give then. His heart was racing though and soon he realized, maybe he had taken up the unnecessary challenge of jogging down those five flights of stairs while keeping his laptop safely in tow.

Hange looked up from her phone seeming surprised. “Are you busy? Was this a bad time to visit?” Hange asked. “We could reschedule... “

More and more, the first greeting then was seeming less and less ideal. “No, no. This is great. I don’t know what just came over me. Thank you for taking the time to test this bug with me.”

Hange shook her head. “No, no, I asked my partner to invest in this application for a reason. I see great potential and I’d be happy to tweak some of those bugs with you.” Her lips widened into a smile. “So what’s the game plan?”

Levi gestured towards the elevators. “We do some simple testing. I just need to isolate the cause of this bug.”

“Oh? How does application testing work?”

“We use the application,” Levi answered matter-of-factly. Was there any other way to test it? It didn’t seem like something he should be asking the very important partner of a very important person though so Levi kept that last question to himself, instead keeping his face then as something both subtle and questioning.

“That’s cool,” Hange said. “So how’s your job?”

“It’s fine,” Levi answered. “The investigation will keep me busy.” He stared at the numbers on the elevator, getting lower and lower and Levi could have sworn it couldn’t go any slower. He could have found some consolation if anybody else had joined them in the elevator then, to at least abate that awkward need to carry some conversation between them.

Any other employees though had chosen for themselves to wait in front of other elevators. Levi was almost considering doing the same thing.

After all, Hange was talkative. She was asking questions. When they entered the elevator together, the very slow elevator, there would be more than enough time to send two to three questions back and forth. And Levi was quick to realize, he was an incredibly boring person.

“So do you have any hobbies?”

“Programming.” What about you? Levi had readied himself to ask in that long split second of silence that followed.

Hange though was quick to respond even before he could take control of the conversation. “Well aside from your actual job.”

“I like to clean,” Levi answered. He started to wonder how dorky that hobby sounded like. He needed to rephrase. “I meant--- organize things…” He added a second later. “Like Marie Kondo.”

“Oh yes, I’ve heard about her,” Hange said. She had at least allowed for a split second silence then, long enough for Levi to take the reins of the conversation.

Hange though was a high profile person, her partner was one of the richest men in the country and Levi’s mind was racing with hypotheticals. Was it okay to ask her about her hobbies? Her interests? Or was that supposed to be an exclusively professional meeting?

Soon, with all the questions nagging at him at once, he unearthed a question at the back of his mind that he had been meaning to ask since he had met Hange down at the lobby.

So how’s your husband?

Where’s your husband? Do you hang out with him often? Do you usually do stuff alone? A question that couldn’t so easily be answered by a single google search on an incognito window, only that night, he had tried searching keywords just to be sure.

Hange Zoe Zeke Jaeger Relationship

And soon after searching that just once. He had made sure to clear his browser history just in case he didn’t do it in some incognito window. After all, night mode and incognito mode had almost the same interface.

He soon found out though after jumbling around keywords over a search engine that Google wasn’t omnipotent as it turned out. The only one who could have satisfied his curiosity at that moment was the brunette next to him then.

He couldn’t bring himself to ask it just then though. So he went for another question, a very vanilla one but it seemed like a safe bet. “What about you?”

“What about me? What do you mean about me?”

Levi was starting to doubt the flow of the conversation of a while ago. Did he remember it correctly?

The elevator dinged like it was announcing some coming of a messiah. That had been more than enough to break the awkwardness of that exchange and Levi quickly slammed the open elevator door, just a little more loudly than usual. He gestured for Hange to go ahead.

“Hobbies,” Levi said as he met her outside the elevator.

“I like research,” Hange answered.

“Is that your full time job?” Levi asked. He didn’t need to ask. He had read more than enough articles of Zeke Jaeger’s partner to have seen ‘neuropsychologist’ used as an epithet enough to be convinced that that was her full time job. The last thing he wanted to do though was actually accidentally imply in a conversation that he had googled a few keywords for answers before clearing his browser history.

Hange nodded. “Yes it is.”

“Well… Hobbies aside from your actual job?” Levi asked. He kept his own word usage and his own phrasing similar to what Hange had used with him. If Hange asked it that way, that should have been a socially acceptable way to ask.

“I like plants,” Hange said firmly. She wasn’t looking at him. Although Levi had wanted to see the face she was making then, he started to realize that craning his neck to get a good view of her face might just look a little too weird.

So he settled for her side profile. From his view he could see eyes were everywhere at once from the hallways to the doorways just a little further away from the area that opened up as soon as they exited the elevator. “Where are we going?”

“Over here,” Levi said, he was quick to pull her towards the other side though, before she found out that he had taken a good few steps already in the wrong direction. “The conference room is over here…”

“We have a meeting?” Hange asked, her voice suddenly very tense.

“No, it’s nothing like that. I just thought it would be better that I reserved a room, so we could do some testing where we wouldn’t bother anyone.”

She let out a sigh of relief. “That’s good. I thought I was supposed to be preparing something.”

In those few minutes, he had made her wait, made her navigate some awkward conversation and made her panic. Then and there as he led her to the room, he was guessing what kind of dashing review she’d be giving Zeke about their first meet up.

More importantly, was he giving a great second impression? It was nine in the morning, too early for him to be confident that he was a fully functioning human being. Or so, that was what he repeated to himself then. He could make up for it after lunch.

Hange settled on one of the chairs nearest to the door. “Do we sit together?” She asked. The meeting room was designed for a maximum of ten people and for a good few seconds, he wondered if he should have gotten something much smaller.

Even before he had figured it out for himself, he was looking between sitting right next to her or towards the other side of the room. They weren’t married. Could he sit beside someone who was married?

But if he sat too far, he might not be able to hear her. He went for a very safe in between. He dropped his laptop bag on the seat next to her with some flourish, as if to say, he was married to his job and he was happy with that arrangement before sitting on the seat right next to his bag.

There was a bag between them, they were a safe distance away and Levi pulled his laptop out and booted it up. “I’m suspecting that the issue with your application might be the build. Can you redownload it for me?” He asked. The laptop had been a reminder at least that they were there for business. And business meant that they had a topic of conversation and he had practiced that script enough times to know, he probably didn’t sound like an idiot.

“Are we testing now?” Hange pulled her phone from her bag.

“Yes we are. Just download the app from the app store. I need to confirm that this isn't just your build in particular being faulty,” Levi brought out his own phone, deleted the application from the folder before redownloading it into his phone.

The ‘downloading’ message next to the love alarm application served some form of inspiration for conversation topics at least. “So, how does your husband like the app?” Levi asked. That line was straight from the basic customer service manual and he was very much sure that was acceptable territory for a professional conversation topic.

“Ahh Zeke? He loves the application. He told me himself, he sees potential in it too.”

Did he tell you over dinner? Over car rides? Somehow, Levi was picturing them over a happy dinner in their European style dining room in their very expensive penthouse apartment down town. He knew how it looked. He had seen it in one of the lifestyle articles he had googled just the night before. “That’s good,” Levi said, he felt that comment catch at his throat. He cleared his throat. “The bug... How does he feel about it?”

Hange’s face fell at that. Subtly at least, but with Levi had been staring at her for the past few seconds, it was very much noticeable as a split second movement. “Yeah, about that…”

“Did he say anything about it?”

“We did research on the application last night… And we were theorizing… so the heart could have been from him… and from someone else right? Someone else had their application open then. And he was saying it was you.” Hange’s eyes were wide with disbelief. “But I remember you said, it could be a bug right? And I’m sure you turned off your phone before we tested it…”

“And we’re testing again,” Levi said as he opened the newly downloaded application on his phone. “Log into your account.” He ordered, looking pointedly at Hange’s phone.

The biometrics were already in his account, all he needed was to log his fingerprints again. Levi took a glance at Hange’s phone laid out on the table.

She had gone through the log in process quickly. He turned the love alarm on and rested his chin on his hands and waited. Hange only needed a few seconds. Soon she had turned it on.

And within a second, her phone buzzed then his phone buzzed. It did wonders to shake the whole table then, enough for Levi to have to grit his teeth as the table shook sending a bolt of shivers up to his chin.

He could have sworn he felt blood rush to his face then. He quickly turned off the alarm. “It might be a problem with our phones. I”ll bring down some test devices and we can try this again. He avoided Hange’s gaze only brushing his hands on her shoulders long enough to make his point known. “Just wait here.”

Hange mumbled something with a seemingly obedient tone. Levi didn’t bother to guess. He quickly made his way out of the room, up the stairs--- he was in no mood to run into anyone in the elevator.

It had taken him roughly ten minutes to go back up to the office and come back down with a bag full of gadgets. He dropped the bag on the meeting table, maybe a little too loud and a little too roughly. “These are the most common gadgets used for testing the love alarm. They’ve all been factory reset so just set any one of them up and we try the application again.”

Hange seemed frozen with surprise, at the least she had managed a nod.

Setting up the device was a simple process and Hange didn’t ask too much about it. She had at least kept quiet through the whole ordeal and although it was second nature for Levi to set up a device, he made sure to keep his head down, his eyes intent, feigning deep concentration.

Or maybe he needed to concentrate. His hands were shaking just a little bit, his heart was racing.

He was sure he only needed to try it one different device, one commonly used model for both of their phones to rule out any problems with build or model. It was a decisive move.

And the climax of such a process came once again when Hange had motioned to click the love alarm again before looking up at him. Before they even met eyes, Levi clicked the on button on his end.

It was at the moment when the alarms rang in unison again did Hange avert her gaze. Levi bit his lip as he stared back at his phone.

One person nearby is in love with you.

He glanced up, at Hange’s phone. Although he couldn’t make out the words on it, the characteristic heart near the center was enough. She was getting the same heart.

He grabbed the phone from her. “It might be related to the model,” Levi said, Years of experience working with applications and phones were telling him, it wasn’t related. One working phone was more than enough proof. Looking at the watch at the end of the meeting room, he saw it was far from lunch time, he had at least ten devices in the bag. “Let’s try it on other phones… Just to be sure.”

***

“Levi, what if…”

“What if…” Levi nodding his head at Hange slowly, a subtle gesture for her to continue speaking.

For lunch, they had settled for one of the diner just along the wide shopping streets only a few minutes walk from the building.

An eventful few minutes walk. Levi had turned on his love alarm, put an earbud to one ear and listened to the alarm ring on repeat as he followed Hange through the streets. There were a few other notifications that popped up and left as he listened. But the ringing coming from that one heart which he had already surmised long ago, was from Hange’s heart had settled into even the cadence of his steps. It became an ubiquitous part of the short walk to the shopping street.

When they had settled in the diner though, Hange was quick to drop her phone in front of him and show him the history of her application. On her phone, there was one heart that remained steadfast through the whole ten minute walk as well.

At that moment, Hange pointed at it, then glanced quickly at Levi’s own phone. “What if… You are attracted to me. And I’m attracted to you? Because this love alarm, it doesn’t just check love right? It checks attractiveness. So if a passer by thinks you’re attractive, your alarm rings,” Hange said.

Levi leaned back on the diner behind him, picking at his fries with a fork. He couldn’t bring himself to eat one, just the results of their testing that morning had him losing his appetite. Consequently, he had ordered the burger meal at the front of the menu, something he was in no mood to eat.

“So maybe…” Hange said.

“Hange, we just met. During all the tests. I have never made anyone’s love alarm ring. Besides, I don’t think I’d be the type of guy to get attracted to someone at first glance. I don’t believe in love at first sight.” And someone who’s married at that. If Levi had something in his mouth then as that thought ran through his mind, he was sure he would have choked. He was more grateful than ever that he hadn’t started eating.

“But, we saw it already… The application was giving the same reading and when we were walking too… It never stopped ringing…” Hange explained. Still she looked like she was still finding the right words.

Levi understood her clearly though. “Hange, are you in love with me?”

Hange turned a bright red. “What? No, I'm married. Also, we just met and I don’t believe in love at first sight either”

“So do you believe there’s a bug?”

Hange nodded. “Maybe? Or maybe the data you put into the application was flawed. Maybe there are things that need to be improved.”

“That is a good point. So what do you suggest then Hange?”

“I’ll help you research. I pitched this application to Zeke because I wanted to try rolling something out similar to hospitals, psychiatric units. And if he invests maybe we could improve the application, work to make it more accurate?”

“That’s the plan. But he said so himself, he’s not going to invest in the application until the bug is fixed.”

“But what if it is working as expected… What if it’s just a matter of fixing the data?” Hange looked out the window, seeming deep in thought. Levi wondered if that last question had been for him or for herself.

“I can do further testing on this. Just to make sure,” Levi said. “The problem is… How are you gonna convince Zeke to invest in this?”

Hange sighed. “I guess it's going to be a question of timing. I'll catch him when he's in a good mood and--”

“Hange, are you willing to admit to your husband that you might just be attracted to some stranger?”

That shouldn't have been such a difficult thing. He had heard before of married couples who window shopped so Levi amended that question in his mind.

Are you willing to admit to your seemingly unhinged husband that you might just be attracted to some stranger?

***

Sometimes, the only way to find the bug is to break the application.

Levi and Hange got caught in the lunch time rush. But Hange wasn’t a typical worker, Levi wasn’t a typical eight to five employee either.

So Levi saw opportunity for a little test. “Open your love alarm,” he whispered. He put one earbud to his ear, motioning for Hange to do the same. He turned on the application once again, letting the shill ring grace his ears one again.

It was annoying at first, but over time, he had started to see it as an old friend. He was far from the denial stage already and he was already threading the lines of acceptance.

He was a developer. He had fucked up the coding and a bug had appeared. And that issue, it was a bug for sure, a bug he needed to investigate.

And any opportunity for data and evidence, was an opportunity he couldn’t waste.

“We walk through the lunch crowd,” Levi said. “Usually when I walk through, I get two to three rings. Sometimes more. There have been issues before that getting too many at once, sometimes the application would conceal all the hearts and the only way to get it to work again is to reset the application.”

“So what do we do?” Hange asked.

“Turn on your application and we walk through the crowds,” Levi repeated matter-of-factly.

The crowds around him though were disconcerting and he could understand how Hange would have needed some guidance then.

What did she know about testing? When Levi asked himself that question, he started to pick out another question too. What did he know about testing?

He was an engineer and he had been working with applications for years. He had experienced a lot about testing. But he had never experienced testing with a customer married to one of the biggest opportunities of a company and being accused of being in love with her by his own brain child.

He was treading unfamiliar grounds.

The ringing of the alarm was always unsettling at first. By the fifth ring, it always found a rhythm. Or maybe it was his own brain that found rhythm in it.

And he walked to that rhythm, he pushed past the crowds to that rhythm and every two to three rings, he would take a glance to see Hange beside him, her face had settled to some rhythm too. Sometimes, she would look back at him, other times she would look behind her, as if she suspected someone had set her alarm off.

But he had become part of her rhythm too. From his peripherals, he could see she snuck glances at him. Very quick glances that Levi had been perceptible, invested enough to notice.

They could have been walking for five minutes, or maybe even ten. Soon, Levi realized, the love alarm had embedded itself into the background noise, an annoying ring amid faint voices, conversations, public announcements.

It had only seemed loud once again when the street had opened up to an open space at the center.

In front of them was an empty park, and it usually was empty when the lunch crowds had made their way back to their offices. Levi had worked there long enough to know.

The chaos of the alarm had subsided into one noise. He turned to Hange to see that she was looking up at the sky then, one hand over her forehead, shading the view from the bright afternoon sun.

The light from the sun had done wonders to make her cheeks look a bright pink and for a second or so, Levi just stared, long enough for Hange to have noticed. Or maybe it was her plan to look to him eventually.

“Did it stop?” Levi asked as soon as he became aware of those hazel eyes on him. He averted his gaze and looked around the empty park. Nobody should be ringing his alarm. Nobody should be ringing her alarm. But them.

It should have been a win-win situation. If that had worked to break the application, Levi could have clocked that as the bug and investigated that instead. If it worked as expected, if the two applications continued to ring, then maybe it was working.

His alarm was still ringing. He did a thorough 360 of the park. No one was near enough to even meet the ten meter radius. Just to be sure though he turned to Hange. “Anyone around our ten meter radius?”

The park was empty save for one old man on a bench a good distance away, definitely more than ten meters. He hoped it had sounded like a redundant question.

Hange shook her head. “Nobody. But the application is still ringing.”

“Did it stop at all? During the walk?”

Once again, Hange shook her head.

Levi took a deep breath and dropped his shoulders back. “Erwin gave me a week to figure this out. I’ll do some of my own personal investigation after this.”

“Hey, I’ll do what I can too. I really want you to get those funds.” Hange took her hands in his and Levi had half the mind to pull away. If her hands weren’t so soft and maybe a little too warm even for a cool spring day.

Levi had been almost disappointed when Hange dropped his hand and turned back to her phone. Just ‘almost’ though. They just met, he couldn’t be too invested in hands.

So he thought back once again to backend work to the numbers that made up the love alarm. And he thought of Hange’s little suggestion. “You said something about flawed data right?”

***

“My plan is I’m gonna see if I can convince Zeke to take up that love alarm,” Hange said.

“No need to hurry. I have a week to get it working,” Levi muttered. He wasn’t looking at Hange then. His laptop was propped on his lap and he was looking through open support tickets.

They had a support team and being a developer, answering customer queries wasn’t his job. At that rate though, he was looking for anything to keep him busy. Zeke would be coming to pick up Hange and the last thing he wanted to be was free enough to stare at them.

“I have some books on love, I could send them over,” Hange suggested

Levi looked up from his laptop. The support ticket on ‘how to download the app’ was not very interesting after all and he found reason once again to stare at Hange’s bright hazel eyes. “Why would I need books about love?”

“You seem… inexperienced with love?” Hange started. She seemed unsure with that answer.

“Inexperienced with love?” Levi narrowed his eyes at her.

“Allergic to love,” Hange repeated. “so I thought it might help if you read on them.”

“Why would you care if I read them?”

“If we’re gonna work together to improve the accuracy of your alarm, I think you should learn. I’ll do my part too. I’ll learn a bit of coding.”

Levi shrugged. “Send them over then. I’ll look through them if I have time. First things first, I need to get a little more testing done.”

“They might be useful for testing. Or maybe they’ll be able to help you pick out which sensations in particular point to love.”

“I loaded the data. I would know,” Levi said.

Hange raised one eyebrow at him in playful suspicion. It had done some magic in helping Levi recall that all he remembered were the numbers and some hints about sweating, palpitations and some quickening paces. But machines had a tendency of learning more about the users over time.

“Maybe I’ll read one or two before bed," he added a second later.

“Great. Then I’ll do my homework too. I’ll see what I can get from Zeke. Hopefully I can convince him to invest, even with the bug.”

“You have my number---” Just update me. Before Levi could let those words out, he had fallen back into that support ticket about that one person not knowing how to download the application.

It was still a boring and stupid support ticket. But when Zeke had padded into the lobby like he owned the place with a butler in tow, Levi decided that the idiot of a ticket was still a better view than Zeke at that moment.

“Thank you for picking me up,” Hange said in an almost melodic tone, a tone that made Levi’s ears bleed.

“My meeting ended early and I don’t think we had a good dinner since last week. What did you have for lunch?”

“Burgers and fries.”

“Burgers and fries? Hange, I gave you more than enough money for a good meal." Zeke sounded mortified.

Levi froze. He had suggested the diner for its strategic location. He found himself running his right hand slowly over his wallet in his front pocket. He was sure he had the money for anything more expensive.

“It was good.”

“Well, I’ll make sure we get something better tonight. There’s a new restaurant, just outside town, they sell the pink fatty tuna and Kobe beef imported straight from Japan, same day shipping apparently so it’s definitely the freshest we can get here. What do you think?”

“That sounds great,” Hange said.

She had said it in such a tone, a tone she had never used with Levi before. Like she was tasting the food as she spoke of it. Of course she wouldn’t use it on you. You just met her. Levi thought to himself. As he willed himself to get back to his senses, he realized the ticket was still untouched. Although he had been staring at it since a while ago, he hadn’t made any progress at all.

He looked up at Hange then at Zeke. “Apologies for only taking her to a diner. Next time, I’ll make sure to take her somewhere a little…” Rich, expensive, snazzy, exclusive, snobby? Too many adjectives were running through his head then but Levi settled for something seemingly more professional, or as professional as he could go. “More your tastes.”

“That would be very much appreciated,” Zeke said. He took one of Levi’s hands in his, too suddenly and too forcefully that Levi had to smack his laptop to keep it balanced on his lap. “Thank you again for taking very good care of my Hange here.” He had slipped a hundred dollar bill in between Levi’s hands and maybe he had expected Levi to smile and say ‘thank you.’

And most days, Levi was polite enough to have mustered one but his ears were still ringing, not from hearing the love alarm non stop that day but from those last words Zeke had said.

My Hange.

Hange waved, motioning with her hands to ‘text soon,’ then she turned her back on him.

Levi couldn't’ even get a good view of Hange as she walked away. Soon enough, Zeke had wrapped one arm around her shoulders. From Levi's angle, he couldn’t tell whether Hange had pushed closer to him or Zeke was the one who pulled her closer.

For a second longer, he pondered it. Of course Zeke would pull her closer, that’s his Hange. Of course Hange would move closer to him, she’s his.

Levi looked back at the support ticket, he had opened again.

How to download application. Please help.

He closed his eyes and leaned back on the sofa. He closed all his open tabs before laying his eyes again on the empty draft.

Within seconds, he had closed that tab as well. There were larger issues then than a customer not being able to download an application.

***

Hange had sent books about love in a drive folder and she had emailed it to him. When Levi opened it, he was quick to figure out, they were all self help books

Scott Peck? He could have sworn he had heard that name somewhere and when he opened it, he found the book was hundreds of pages long. He didn’t have the attention span for that.

Maybe I’ll read one or two before bed. He had promised Hange that evening. But he didn’t actually have to read it right?

So instead, Levi googled the summary.

Genuine love is volitional rather than emotional. The person who truly loves does so because of a decision to love. This person has made a commitment to be loving whether or not the loving feeling is present. ...Conversely, it is not only possible but necessary for a loving person to avoid acting on feelings of love.

Levi was quick to close it after that. If that concept of love was real, that would defeat the whole purpose of the love alarm. The last thing he had wanted to do so late at night was invalidate his own brain child.

“Book one for the night. Done,” Levi whispered to himself as he opened the next book on file.

Before you love others, you must learn to love yourself.

“Cliche,” Levi said. But soon after reading it, he turned back to the application on his phone. He turned it on to see an empty blue screen void of hearts. There wouldn’t be hearts, he was alone in his apartment.

He thought back to Hange’s mention of flawed data. He thought back to the alarm that wouldn’t stop ringing. They had been testing it that whole day, there was nothing wrong with the application and the developer in Levi knew there weren't any glaring bugs.

But the testing would continue. He hadn’t completely tested all the scenarios after all. The alarm ringed with Hange but would it have alarmed with anybody else? His five years worth of experience testing the application told him 'no.'

Or maybe he just hadn’t been actively looking for the right people.

Even at night, the gears in his mind managed to turn and soon, he had a plan albeit a vague one. But the first few steps were clear at least. Levi navigated to his play store and typed a few words on the screen. A few minutes later, he was downloading an application with a familiar flame icon on the screen.

He took a deep breath. "This is part of the testing process," he muttered to himself. He was gonna be spending the whole night swiping.

#levihan #levihan fanfiction

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thearkhound · 3 years

Text

Why are Konami’s MSX games fun? Interview from Beep #35 (1987/09)

We Asked Konami’s Development Division

Text by TAKE ON!

Photographs by: Keita Iwagami

While there are many gaming software for the MSX, there’s something special about Konami’s MSX titles that makes them stand out. Rather than just doing simple ports from other platforms, their titles have a unique charm to them that titles from other developers might lack. To find out how they do it, we tried asking Konami directly.

Just as Expected

“Hey, I knew it! It’s just like I predicted.” As I saw the results of this issue’s survey, I raised my voiced and shouted “Did you see this? Konami was voted the number 1 software maker for the MSX!” However, my voice was simply absorbed by the editing room, with no even a simple “yes” or “I see”-type of response. While I was happy that my favorite company Konami took the no. 1 spot, the editors around me didn’t seem very impressed by that. Perhaps they were exhausted by all the hard work they were doing everyday.

“Why are you guys not impressed? Maybe Konami being No. 1 was too predictable, but it’s still outstanding. Perhaps our readers might want to find out why their games are so interesting. I think such an article will probably be invaluable for this issue’s special MSX coverage...” After trying to argue with the editors in a way that made no sense, I went to Konami’s branch office at Tokyo to interview them.

Overwhelmed by the Company’s Policy

“Uhh, my name is Take On, I’m a writer for Beep magazine.” Like a country bumpkin, I went there without a business card stating who I was, so I had to spent time explaining myself away to the receptionist. After somehow managing to explain who I was and why I came there, Ms. [Akemi] Kamio, Konami’s spokeswoman, led me to what seems to be the reception room.

Before I knew it, I was sitting absent-mindedly at the reception room. “Where am I? Who am I? Ah! Ms. Kamio is such a beauty, that I almost lost my memory. I’m not so used to that. By the way, what was I going to talk about...”

While desperately trying to remember what kind of questions I had in mind, I noticed there was some kind of writing on the wall.

Company’s Policy:

Brilliance Begins With People

Cosmic Pondering

Earnest Action

Release the Fountain of Sensitivity

And Continue Sending Waves of Creativity

Into The Future

Huh. It has a very creative feeling to it, but I have no idea what it means by just reading it. What sort of company policy or philosophy was this? And what the heck was a “cosmic pondering”?

While I was thinking about this, Ms. Kamio guided me, or rather lured me to the “great developer”, so I automatically switched to interview mode. But I still didn’t know what was going to be my first question, so I ended up fumbling a bit.

Cosmic Pondering

Take On!: Uh-hello! I came here today to ask about the MSX and its “cosmic pondering”?

Akihiko Nagata: Uh, pardon me!?

T: (Crap! I fumbled my way so suddenly. Come to think of it, I did brought a notepad with me with the questions I had in mind. How silly of me.) Sorry about that! What I meant to say was that I came here to ask about why Konami’s MSX games are so popular. I would be glad if you could start by talking about Konami’s development department no. 1, the group you belong to.

Nagata: Our company’s development team is divided by three sections: Arcade, Famicom and PC. As you see, my department focuses on PC gaming development, even though most of our games are for the MSX. The company’s plan of action is to have the three sections assembled to work on the same level.

T: Does that mean that titles such as Ganbare Goemon and Akumajo Dracula [Vampire Killer], which were ported from Famicom games, have their own staffs for the MSX versions?

Nagata: That’s right. When it comes to porting a game from one platform to another, other companies tend to have the same team involved with the port. We could do that too, since it’s very efficient, but our company has a structure which allows the MSX team to independently research and develop its own ports. As a result, we hardly release any port that is just the same game with a few minor changes. In other words, because we feel the class of users for the Famicom and MSX, as well as the market, are different, we’re doing a full-time service for each, In that sense, each software is basically its own original product.

The Inside Story of the Gradius Development

T: (I see. With such a logic, you won’t have an identical product.) Speaking of which, the MSX version of Gradius [Nemesis] was very different compared to the arcade and Famicom versions when it came to aspects like the difficulty level and the additional stages.

Nagata: That’s right. When I saw the development of the Famicom version of Gradius I felt a sense of “I really want to do this”. When it comes to developing a port, we set milestones with the condition that “if we can’t complete this, then we must cancel the development.” In the case of Gradius, making the laser long was such a condition, so the first thing we ended up doing was the programming for the laser itself. If we could accomplish that, then we can surely port the game.

T: (He really knows how players feel.) That’s why I was glad when it had new area and the hidden extra stages.

Nagata: Originally we were set to develop the game on a 32 kilobyte cartridge, but that was not sufficient to fit everything we wanted, so it was increased to 1-Megabit. Because there weren’t that many Megarom cartridges back then, we worked hard to make the best of it. We ended up with excess space, so we added a new regular stage to make use of it, but that was still not enough content to fill the extra space, so we added the hidden extra stages, as well as title screen that took 8-kilobyte.

T: (I see. But still, doing your best to make full use of the game’s given memory is pretty amazing.) I had the chance to play Gradius 2 [Nemesis 2] a while ago. It’s a superb game with all new stages and inclusion of a sound source that seems like it was developed specifically for the Megarom cartridge format. Particularly with its opening story sequence that made me teary-eyed.

Nagata: That story was something that its lead designer was particularly fixated with. (laughs) The original arcade version of Gradius didn’t have much of a story other than “the Bacterions are coming, deploy the Vic Viper”, but that wasn’t enough for the manual, so we had to go back and write a new story.

T: And then Gradius 2 added a sound source to the software.

Nagata: The music is all new and composed by the same person who did the music for the original arcade version of Gradius. This time we were able to employ audio waveforms in addition to the standard 3 PSG channels. All in all, you could say it has 8 ports or 8 chords. Simple calculations are also increased by 2.8 times. The programming is already like a puzzle. As for the music itself, you might not be able to tell the difference when compared to a recent game, but when compared to the first Gradius, you’ll see that the sound itself was considerably improved.

A Gathering of Little Ideas

T: Lately Gradius 2 has served as the centerpiece of the MSX1, but where does that leave Metal Gear in regards to the MSX2? I was very impressed by the innovative direction it took.

Nagata: I’m glad that the game was well-received by your staff. (laughs) I was concerned whether or not the game would be well-received by players or not. But it seems like we’re off to a good start. The world of Metal Gear was also something that its designer was particularly fixated with. When it comes to directing, or rather structuring a game, there are ways to create it after deciding on its main ideas, but sometimes it’s better to mix up a lot of little ideas like a crossword. You’ll know the game’s overall balance when it’s finished.

T: That’s why all Konami games have subtle little touches or shine with their presentation. Are there any particular problems when it comes to developing an MSX game?

Nagata: Sincerely, while the world of graphics have expanded since the introduction of the MSX2, it is very difficult in terms of processing. The MSX was designed to be used on a home television set [as opposed to a computer monitor], so even if you make the graphics more detailed, it still won’t look very pretty on a TV screen.

And then there’s the scrolling. If you’ve seen TwinBee or Hinotori, you’ll understand. The machine is capable of vertical-scrolling, but not horizontal. That’s why you won’t see anything like points on-screen.

The LSI concept for the MSX’s image processing was designed with scalability in mind, but it wasn’t compatible with the kind of LSI employed by the Famicom, so that gave us a lot of problem.

T: You done a great job! Finally, I would be glad if you could tell us what’s Konami’s outlook for the future of the MSX.

Nagata: We’ve been allowed to make a living off the MSX, so we’ll continue to do our best when it comes to both, the MSX1 and MSX2.

When it comes to genre, our company has been basically making only action games up to this point, but we plan on adding more cerebral and adventure elements to future titles. The way users are viewing games are changing, so we want to grow while gradually attracting their needs.

Our MSX games have changed a lot content-wise since we started making them, but I don’t think they would changed that much in such a short time if we were doing only MSX games. There’s a sense of rivalry among Famicom and other PC users. We’re also going to do our best to compete with the arcade and Famicom sections anyway we can, so please continue to support us.

T: As an MSX user myself, I’m looking forward to Konami’s future games for the platform. I know it’s a lot of work, especially when it comes to the MSX1, but for the one million users out there please keep up the good work. Thank you for your time.

I was worried about what was going to happen at one point, but the interviewed ended in a hour without a hitch. If I get the opportunity, next time I’ll ask about what exactly a “cosmic pondering” is. Until then, see you again in “my own forum!” (Editor’s note: “Hey! Don’t advertise your own serial!”

Source

Beep Vol. 3 No. 9 - September 1987 issue (Softbank Publishing)

#Konami #MSX #Gradius #Metal Gear #Castlevania #Mystical Ninja #Akihiko Nagata

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dindjarindiaries · 4 years

Text

Collide - Chapter 3

summary: Bella survives her first full day at the office with Steve and Javier and earns an unexpected guest on her trip to the market.

warnings: angst, flashbacks/trauma, soft!javi

rating: R

word count: 3.204k

masterlist

chapter 3

Willing yourself to get to work is a challenge the next day. You hate yourself for the way your heart’s about to fly straight out of your chest and take off for some faraway destination. This is precisely why you left Texas behind, to get yourself out of these situations where you’re constantly haunted by the things of the past. Instead, possibly one of the biggest parts of it is going to be sitting right there, at the same cluster of desks as yours, inevitably in contact with you for most of the day.

And what you despise the most is the way that thought makes your heart skip a hopeful beat.

Javier doesn’t deserve your attention, much less your affection. He left you high and dry in Texas for years, leaving you to think that he hated you and regretted all the thirteen years he’d known you—especially your most intimate moment together. Not only that, but his engagement and almost-marriage to Lorraine—her of all people, and you laugh to yourself as you think about the irony—wasn’t much of a secret in Kingsville, especially your lack of an invitation. Your supposed best friend didn’t even want you at his wedding.

And now, he’s your partner at work—and he’s sent you gifts of things you never would’ve expected to receive.

You hate the way Javier can still play such a vicious game of tug-of-war with your heart, and you fume on this as you sit inside the car the embassy had supplied for you and take off for the office. Your thumb drums against the steering wheel as you recall the easy directions Steve had given you before you’d left his apartment last night, trying your best not to dwell on the thoughts that’d plagued not only your morning but also your slumber. Javier never left your mind or heart as easily as he left your life, and now that he’s snuck his way back into the latter, you know it’ll be much harder to kick him out of the former.

When you pull into one of the parking spaces at the office, you release a sigh that you hope will take all your worries with you. You realize the effort was in vain when you get out of the car and step onto shaky legs. Cursing under your breath, you wish you would’ve been able to get more than a sorry excuse for a granola bar down your throat this morning as you walk inside the building. You receive a few stares of confusion as people see you enter, and you simply give them polite nods as you walk by. You hope that when your face is more well known, you’ll receive kinder acknowledgements—though, you’re not sure how thrilled all of these people are to have another woman around.

Steve and Javier are already in when you get to the cluster of desks. You can feel Javier’s gaze on you the minute you’re in their range, and you try to ignore its heat for moment as you drop your keys onto the desk and start pulling out your chair.

“Morning,” Steve greets, looking up from his work briefly to give you a small smile. “I’m glad we didn’t scare you off already.”

You scoff, returning his smile as you sit down. “Luckily. We’ll see what today brings.”

Both men chuckle at your words, and you bite back a smile at the easy interaction. You feel some of the dread for the day already starting to fall away, only to feel something completely new arise when your gaze finally drifts over to Javier. He’s temporarily looked away from you, and so you take the time you can to observe him completely. His beige button-up leaves a few undone, providing a clear view of his upper chest and neck. You try to blink back the memories of the kisses you’d left there under the stars that night, but surprisingly it’s Javier himself who saves you from the torment. He looks back up to you to catch your gaze, offering a hopeful lift of his brow.

“How are you feeling?” Javier asks, and you’re taken aback by the question. You weren’t expecting him to say something so… well, personal.

“I’m alright,” you assure him, trying to hide the smile you want to show him so badly.

“Did you, uh… get everything alright?” Javier sounds almost shy continuing his interrogation.

You can’t help giving him that smile now. “Yeah, I did. Thank you so much for that.” Javier nods, and you notice that he’s barely able to hold his own smile back as he looks down at his work. Despite all the problems left unsolved between the two of you, the interaction triggers a familiar instinct and a nostalgic feeling, as if you’re falling back into your old ways again.

You blink a few times and look down at the files in front of you. No, you try to scold yourself. You can’t do that. Not without resolving things first. You fear that if you fall in step with Javier again in the way you used to, he’ll refuse to open up at all regarding the things he did and has done since you two last saw each other, and you can’t have that. You must know what happened in the in-between, and you know that eventually you’ll have to tell him the same about yourself.

For the workday, though, you’re able to shelve these thoughts as you start to dive deep into what you’re doing. You, Steve, and Javier read through the files you have and discuss them, tracing patterns and making notes of anything that makes more appearances than usual. You start to get the hang of all the codenames and people you’d previously read up on and heard about yesterday, and by the time you’re heading home—which, thanks to Escobar’s sheer invisibility and the lack of action, is at quite a reasonable hour—you feel as if you’re fitting in perfectly.

Steve tells you the same thing as the three of you walk out to your cars, reflecting on your first full day at the office. “You know, it’s really great to have you here,” Steve confesses. “I think that’s the most productive Peña and I have been in a long fuckin’ time.”

You chuckle. “Well, like Connie said: too much testosterone. I’m glad I can help the balance.”

“I never even realized how much we didn’t get done until today,” Steve continues, looking past you to catch Javier’s eye. “Javi, we were shit at paperwork, weren’t we?”

Javier scoffs. “That’s one way to put it, Murphy.” Javier’s gaze then switches to you. “But I’m not surprised. She’s always been able made any situation better.”

You try your best to keep the heat from rushing to your cheeks as you shake your head. “Cállate, cariño.”

“Hablo en serio,” Javier insists with a chuckle. “I see that not much has changed.”

Your soft smile soon starts to turn into a grimace at his words. No, you dipshit, everything’s changed. “You’d be surprised.” You try to look at him and force a smile, but you can tell he doesn’t buy it. Desperately wanting to change the subject, you turn your attention to Steve. “Where’s a good place to go for groceries around here? I haven’t loaded up my fridge or my pantry yet, and I’ll need something to eat tonight.”

“Oh, yeah, we actually go to a market that’s right down the road,” Steve answers, and as you step outside of the office, he gestures to the left. “They’ve got a lot of good stuff for cheap.”

“I… was actually about to head there myself tonight,” Javier says, demanding your attention once again. “I can bring you there.”

You force another smile, this time making it more realistic—despite the drastic change in pace at which your heart now beats. “Great.”

Steve heads to his car, waving his hand as you and Javier do the same. You both continue to walk through the parking lot, heading in the direction of the market. Tense silence fills the air between the two of you until Javier dares to break it.

“So, you—uh, you liked everything?” he asks, his arms swaying rhythmically with his body as he walks alongside you. His dark gaze turns to you, and you meet it to see something familiar sparkling inside of his eyes.

You nod. “Yeah, I really did, Javier,” you assure him honestly. “I actually didn’t expect you to remember my obsession with 100 Grands.”

Javier raises an eyebrow, chuckling a bit. “How could I forget, bella? Those shits were practically all you ate growing up. I must’ve spent at least a hundred dollars fueling your obsession.”

“That’s an exaggeration,” you remark, biting back your smile as your gaze returns to the road ahead of you.

“Por favor, bella.” You throw him a playful glare, and Javier gives you a guilty look in return. “Okay, well, at least fifty.”

“That’s better.” You both laugh to yourselves for a moment, and you let out a soft breath as you decide to continue pressing about what else was in the bag. “What about the pillow?”

You can sense Javier tensing beside you, and you look over to see his shoulders raised just a bit higher towards his ears. It was always a habit of his before to tighten up like that whenever he’s feeling shy or uncomfortable. You used to remedy it by placing your hands on them and easing them back down or wrapping him in an embrace to make him calm, but neither of those are things you’d even consider doing right now. “What about it?”

You hold back a scoff, looking over at him with a single eyebrow raised. “It’s identical to the one I got you. Where’d you get it from?”

Javier’s fingers begin to fumble with each other as he looks at them—another shy habit of his. “You know mi abuela loves to sew,” he begins to answer. “I had it done… I don’t know, a year after you gave me yours.”

Your gaze softens as you continue to look at him. “Really? Why?”

Javier shrugs, finally looking back over at you. “I just felt like it needed a match.”

“And so you kept it? Even after… everything?”

Javier’s dark gaze flashes with pain at your reference to the time and unspoken events that occurred before you saw him again. “You may not believe me, bella, but I really missed you.” You feel a pain in your chest when you realize it’s the second time he’s said those exact words to you. “And having both of those just… I don’t know, it made it feel like I still had part of you.” Javier scoffs to himself, looking to his feet. “I know, it sounds fuckin’ lame.”

“No, cariño, it doesn’t.” You give his shoulder a nudge, causing his gaze to snap back up at you. “But if you missed me that much, why didn’t you give me a call?”

Javier sighs heavily. “I thought you didn’t want to see me ever again.”

“What made you think that?”

Javier raises an eyebrow, giving you a look of confusion. “You told me so. That night.”

Your heart plummets into your stomach and you swallow hard, suddenly remembering the details your conscious has left out over the years.

“So, that’s it?” You scoff as you stare at Javier, crossing your arms defensively. “You’re just gonna go and pretend nothing ever happened?”

“I don’t know what you want me to do, bella,” Javier mutters, his hands fumbling with the bag you’ve given him—something you now wish you could steal back.

“Tell me it meant something.” You’re starting to beg at this point. It’s been eating you alive for so many months, chewing away at your every heart string and shredding your confidence. “Tell me I wasn’t dreaming when I saw the look in your eye that night. Tell me you didn’t regret it.”

Javier’s silent for a long moment as he stares in your gaze, and you eagerly try to find that same look—but all you can detect is his frustration towards you. “I… I can’t do that.”

You frown, feeling your eyes burn with oncoming tears. “Thirteen years, Javier! We’ve been so close for thirteen damn years, and now you’re just gonna leave me in the dark, and tell me that you regret something like that?”

Javier’s now frowning along with you, taking a step closer to look down at you with a furrowed brow. “Are you seriously throwing our friendship in my face? What are you trying to do, prove some kind of point about how you’ve managed to put up with me that long? Are you calling me difficult?”

“No, Javier, don’t be so dense! I’m trying to say that I would expect you to actually be honest with me and not fucking hurt me like this!”

Javier swallows hard, but the anger doesn’t leave his expression. “I am being honest. And if you’re willing to throw our friendship out over one night, then maybe none of it was worth it in the first place.”

His words become the stone that breaks your heart of glass, and you feel the shards slicing at your chest as you nearly fall to your knees in grief. Yet, the pain also fuels your anger, and now you’re taking a step away as you seethe at him. “Maybe you have a point. Maybe I was nothing more to you than a prize to win, all these years.”

Javier huffs. “That’s not true.”

You shake your head. “You’ve already made it obvious, Javier. I get it.” You pause to swallow back your tears of shared pain and rage, giving him the most lethal stare you can muster. “I hope I never have to see you again.”

The pain flashes across Javier’s face quickly, but he tries to disguise it by twisting his face with anger. “I can make that happen.” Javier says the words with certainty, and before you can stop him, he’s already stalking off to his truck. You don’t try to stop him, or remind him that he’s your ride back, or admit that you’re not being truthful—and you don’t know how you’ll live without seeing him ever again, because you love him so much. Instead, you watch as he leaves you behind, and your knees finally give way beneath you as your hands collect the sobs that spill out so violently from your chest.

That’s not a memory you were looking to remember.

You blink a few times, trying to get rid of the painful images and feelings it brings you. “I—I did, didn’t I?” You manage a chuckle, starting to rub your neck in your anxious manner. “Damn, I’m sorry. That was a bitchy move.”

“And just about everything I said and did were dick moves, so don’t worry, we can call it even.” Javier nudges your shoulder in the same way you’d done to him, causing you to smile slightly as you look back at him. “I think we’re mature enough now to realize that we were just two teenagers with a lot of hormones, bella.”

You stifle a laugh, shaking your head as you start to come upon the said market. “The sad part to me is that even when we became adults, we failed to recognize that.”

Javier rests a hand on your shoulder, holding your gaze with hints of heavy regret and hidden pain. “The in-between was never easy, bella. But we’ll work it out.”

You swallow hard. Yeah, I really fucking hope so. But you doubt you’ll be able to get anything out of Javier anytime soon, and you don’t know how the hell you’re going to be able to handle telling him everything about your life as well as how you’ve felt about what you’ve learned of his.

“For now, we have to focus on filling your kitchen with something other than 100 Grands and whiskey.” Javier chuckles with you as he says the words, gesturing to the market in front of you.

You give him a skeptical look as he leads you through the market. “Do you even need groceries, idiota? Or did you make that up as a sorry excuse to come here with me?”

Javier gives you a guilty look while also offering a shrug of his shoulders. “I do need some more coffee.”

You laugh and shake your head, letting yourself revel in the temporary feeling of old as you and Javier explore the market together. He tells you about all the foods he usually seeks out, and which ones are probably best to avoid. He tries to guess on the things he remembers you liking, and most of the time you’ll confirm his estimations while sometimes having to inform him that you’ve since grown a distaste for certain items. You’ll throw together a ton of things—some that you need and some that you honestly don’t, but have been encouraged by Javier to splurge on anyway—and, after about a half an hour of this, you’re heading back to the office to get your cars. The sun is just starting to sink lower in the Medellín sky, and you can tell it’s having an effect on Javier as he slowly starts opening up to you again.

“I feel like I need to thank you, bella,” Javier confesses, looking over at you as he carries some of your bags for you.

“For what, cariño?” you remark, returning his gaze with softness.

“I just—uh, I haven’t felt this much like myself for a long ass time,” Javier informs you. “It’s almost like… I don’t know, like you’re the only person who can bring that back out of me. So, um, thank you.”

You give Javier a warm smile—a genuine smile—and feel yourself beaming up at him. “I’m glad you can be yourself around me, Javier. No matter what’s happened since we’ve last seen each other, or whatever the hell I said before you left that night, just know that you can always be yourself around me.”

“Noted.” Javier throws you a wink with his word, and you playfully roll your eyes as you give his shoulder a shove.

As Javier helps you get the bags into your car, you’re torn between being scarily happy and rightfully pissed at yourself for what you’ve just allowed to happen. You know you shouldn’t be letting Javier get off the hook this easily, that you should be making him work harder to earn your good graces again, but you also can’t deny the relieving feeling of becoming close to him again. When you watch him wave goodnight as he gets into his car, you can’t help smiling to yourself at the way you’d both so effortlessly clicked again, even though you know there’s a lot more shit waiting in a storm cloud that’s hovering dauntingly over your mind and heart.

But you know what they say: old habits die hard.

chapter 4

translations:

Cállate, cariño = Shut up, sweetheart

Hablo en serio = I’m serious

Por favor, bella = Please, beautiful

tags: @tarrevizslas @none-of-your-bullshit @lavenderl3mons @gooddaykate @flower-petal-blooming @stilllivindue2spite @mrsparknuts @fionnthebandersnacc @pisss-offf-ghostt @gaydreamland @longitud-de-onda @literallytrashhhhhh @kkgraham @arrowswithwifi @rage-isaquietthing @awesomefandomsunited @theforceofdarkandlight @murdermewithbooks @blushingwueen @rachelloveseveryone @madadlorian @ah-callie @mrsdaamneron @lokiaddicted @arcadianempress @benakenalove @wickedfrsgrl @pascalisperfect @absurdthirst @weirdowithnobeardo @lcandothisallday @sailorflowermoon @engineeredfiction @souls-rain @kaylaylaylayla @cailoleaf @unintentionalwriter @earthtokace + irishleesh93 & moonlightmrvel

#and I feel soft in this chili's tonight #dang you javier #javier peña #javier pena #javier peña x reader #javier pena x reader #collide fic #narcos #narcos fic #dindjarindiaries

195 notes · View notes

mateasha · 4 years

Text

rendevous 18.6y

summary: chikage shows up at the front door of MANKAI after disappearing from the face of the Earth for 3 years. itaru is not happy. fandom: a3 pairing: chikage x itaru word count: 3335 tags: original characters for the sake of plot, friends to strangers to lovers, angst, fluff, flashbacks, mentions of death, bad attempts at action, bad attempts at comedy

chapter 5: thoughts

Itaru wished he did not hurry up.

He wishes that he also did not say yes to his damn boss...

I mean, he guesses he did do it voluntarily, if you can call an impulsive decision fueled by some unseen force something that he did voluntarily. His boss would say otherwise.

But something about this room is only a little empty, even if it’s filled to the brim with people— and by brim, he means the table is full and there are two extra people (Chikage and Itaru) presenting their dumb pitch about this and that, imports and such, and the sorts. There are only so many ways you can say “Hey! Give us shit and we’ll give you shit and maybe just a little money! Who knows!” but Chikage seems to have found all of them, including the most long winded speech, just to make it look like he’s smart.

Which he is, Itaru isn’t saying he’s necessarily dumb. He is smart.

But even if Chikage had him say that whole spiel about “never knowing unless you try” (which, corny as hell by the way) it would still work out in the end for Itaru, maybe even gaining more respect. Maybe he’ll ask Chikage after the meeting.

Well, if Chikage decides that he likes him today.

The room is abnormally silent, devoid of any other voice, as the Japanese translator sits there, staring at the man whose English is paced and worded like a damn poem, in awe. Itaru doesn’t expect any less from the hacker, whose stats are basically so high that no one can compare. Except a specific stat that basically everyone knows, but Itaru tries not to think about it. But his voice really does project across the entire room, drawing attention to him, which isn’t very uncharacteristic for him, because he’s heard this before. His voice with a certain cadence to it, hitting every point, and maybe throwing in a couple company buzzwords in there, just to sound a little bit smarter. What the fuck is “synergy?”

He looks slowly around the room, making sure no one is staring at him— which no, there isn’t anyone, thank God, as he takes a look at the surroundings for the 10th time, at the same concrete walls painted with the brightest shade of white and the glass barrier separating them from the main office, covered in layers of white blinds, and the presentation glowing from the flatscreen TV put up in the middle of the room. (which he wishes he could have, but Sakyo still won’t let him put up anything, which makes sense because Itaru definitely could not be trusted with a drill for the life of him.)

The carpet is a bit scratchy underneath his feet, as he slightly grinds his shoe sole into it, the friction of which can slightly be heard across the room, but surprisingly, no one has called it out, maybe out of politeness, or maybe because of Chikage’s still loud, and booming voice across the room. Chikage decided to take the most part of the work back at the hotel room, and Itaru really took the easy part, but it’s fine. Chikage wanted the hard part anyway. It just means that maybe he won’t get the best benefit out of it, which would be perfectly fine. He just came here for the merit. It would look good on his resume too. If he ever decides to get a new job-- which, after this, he should start planning. Once he uses all his vacation days.

But he doesn’t understand why some eyes are drifting over to him, when Chikage is interesting enough with his injection of larger English words, again, to the amazement of the translator, who wasn’t expecting this. But it does make him look worse to the board of people who heard him slightly stutter when he stumbled across a couple words, but it wasn’t that bad. Right? He tries to affirm himself for a bit, but he knows that it could’ve been better-- then again, a lot of things could’ve been better about his presentation. He wasn’t the most prepared, and maybe that would cost him the deal, which is why he doesn’t understand how and why he was so laid back about everything that was going down with the work, which he decides to blame on Chikage. Rightfully so, as he had occupied his thoughts far too much and put him in some emotional dilemma, if that’s what you could call it, when he keeps sending the most mixed emotions towards Itaru.

There is a time and place to be thinking about these things although, now not being the place, but he still thinks about it anyways,

“Any questions?” Chikage asks this for the final time, finally wrapping up the presentation that felt like it lasted for a lifetime, which it probably did. Probably. Itaru decides to tune out the rest as Chikage accepts a couple questions, and answers some that go without asking-- which is to be expected from someone who does enough and maybe just a little bit more.

“I actually have a question.”

“Ah, what is it?” Chikage smiles at the old man, the smile seemingly genuine to others, but not to Itaru.

“No, for your partner. I’m not completely clear on the outline of this… plan.” He turns his head to Itaru. “Could you go over the third slide, please?”

“I… Well… Uhm… Can I say this in Japanese?” Itaru can feel himself tensing up even more. Was I not descriptive enough, I don’t know what I could even go over? “Well, depends what part you’re confused about.” Good non-answer. Could buy you time, he thinks to himself.

The interpreter says the words in English, the man nodding in confirmation. He says some English to the interpreter, and the interpreter parrots it back. “Well, why should we use your company as a means to get our products to Japan? Is there a market in Japan for these things?”

Itaru freezes.

“Well, there is, just look at the slide before that, there’s definitely a market for this stuff, just look at those graphs. Very high.“ Itaru is panicking which Chikage takes notice of as Itaru fidgets a bit with his hands, trying to structure a damn sentence, which he can’t seem to do after that damn question.

“Well, what my partner is trying to say is that there is a market for this stuff, and currently, as a testing area, we are sure we, as a company, have the best idea on how to release this product, as we believe, and are sure that these specific areas of Japan are in need of these things.”

“Hmm… I see. We will continue this meeting tomorrow. Thank you for your time.” He bows as he gets up, the rest following in suit.

They both speak in unison. “Thank you for your time.” They bow as each exits, Chikage walking over to the briefcase, closing the laptop and packing up the papers into the folders in a very methodical and neat way.

As each one of them gets up and walks to the door, Chikage heads to the middle of the large table, closing the laptop, unplugging the USB and packing everything up into his bag, Itaru following closely behind as the last person leaves. Something about it is intimate though, as if the room got smaller with just the two of them, but still with the same white concrete walls, surrounding them, with the same office lights coating the room in fluorescent light that washes out the little to no color found in the room.

“Sorry.” Itaru blurts out with no thought.

Chikage looks behind him, like Itaru is the weirdest person alive for that singular moment. “Sorry for what?”

“I fucked up.”

“Chigasaki, it wasn’t that bad. You could be better prepared for that, of course, but you tried to deal with it. It’s more effort than I’ve seen you put in before.”

Itaru isn’t insulted, even when most people would have been. He knows he put more effort into this than usual. “Exactly. This was really avoidable. And basic too.”

“And? It already happened, Itaru. No point in dwelling on it.”

“...I guess you’re right.”

Chikage finishes packing everything up quickly. “I know I’m right. Not to say I’m all knowing, but I know this much. It was a good effort. Everything can’t be perfect.” He walks to the door and opens it, standing there for a bit, and looking at Itaru. “Come on. Let’s go back to the hotel. I’m tired.”

Itaru looks at Chikage for a bit, stopping to stare, and his face filled with a hint of confusion. “Okay. Thanks.” Itaru walks out, Chikage following behind, picking up the pace to match the walking speed of Itaru and walk beside him across this oddly large office hallway, complete with simple office decorations and furnishings, passing by a couple filled meeting rooms and empty ones with the lights off, and the sun shining in. He looks at Chikage, who, for some reason, is focused on walking forward, which is kind of weird, but he doesn’t mind. It gives him time to think.

Chikage was nice to him for some reason today, again, despite how he treated him last night, which was… odd. But maybe he was just having a bad day. He’s had his bad days, and come off cranky. He “hmmm”s in his head, a bit skeptical, as he knows Chikage is never one to let his emotions take over for a bit. That’s just who he is. Or maybe he let his guard down? If anything, he’s just completely confused as they turn the corner and see a more open space with an elevator, which is when Itaru decides to stop looking.

Chikage, surprisingly, did not notice the fact that Itaru’s bright red pink eyes were practically glaring into his soul. Just staring in front of him, deep in thought. He presses the button and waits for a bit till the doors of the elevator open, and 2 people come out, and they both enter simultaneously. Itaru presses the 1st floor button, and clasps his hands together near his waist as waits.

“How have you been feeling?” Itaru breaks the silence to start just a bit of small talk to test the waters. Chikage doesn’t respond, seemingly just staring at the closed elevator doors as they descend to the 2nd floor, seemingly not stopping, or feeling longer than usual. “About the presentation… do you think we’ll get the deal?”

He still doesn’t respond, which puts an end to whatever he was planning to say after. The elevator doors open andr they both walk out, and head to the car.

It’s still quiet between them, with maybe even a static, oppressive air surrounding them, stopping him from talking, and just in general preventing even the simplest conversation between them. He gets into the car in the parking garage quickly, Chikage taking his sweet time to start the car.

It’s quiet in the car till Itaru breaks the silence. “How long will it take to get there?” Still no response. Itaru looks intensely through the front window for some reason, when he doesn’t even need to be paying attention, and his phone is literally just in his pocket, but for some reason he’s rendered completely immobile by the fact Chikage isn’t responding when he shouldn’t be. It’s Chikage. Chikage probably doesn’t care. Definitely does not care. It just doesn’t make sense for him to not even respond with a “hey I’m focused on driving.” Because for some reason, he’s not talking again, or even saying that he needs to shut up because he’s focused on driving, which is also a valid response to him, as he completely understands.

But he doesn’t and he stops thinking about this as soon as Chikage pulls up to the front of the hotel, handing his keys over to the valet out front, and showing them their hotel card, the low murmurs of thank yous vibing across the two, and walking in swiftly, and into the elevator again, out, and into the hotel room.

He slides the card into the slot and opens the handle for Chikage, who walks in briskly, and with a sense of urgency, as he looks at his phone again with a sigh. Itaru goes to the wardrobe to grab clothes to rest in for now until he eventually goes out to get food, because he wants to try the fancier pizzas here. But until Itaru needs something is it quiet. “Hey, can you pass me the remote?” No response, like usual, where now it makes no sense, because he’s just searching things up on his open laptop next to the desk. “Are you gonna talk to me?”

“Why would I talk to you? We’re here on business. We’re just working together. It isn’t business. So I don’t care.” He starts to type slightly more quickly, a change so subtle that even he doesn’t notice, the pounding of the keys getting harder and harder.

“Dude, what the fuck?” Itaru sits up in the bed, looking at Chikage, biting the inside of his mouth so hard that it feels like he might draw blood, the taste of iron coating his tongue. “Listen. I don’t fucking want you to treat me like we’re long time friends if you’re gonna say we’re ‘only here for business.’ You can’t have it both ways, Chikage. Make up your damn mind.”

No response. The silence is deafening.

“I just… want to know.” For some reason he’s on the verge of crying which is stupid, and he shouldn’t be crying, but despite him feeling it becomes more than a struggle to get the rest out. “I just want to know if we can actually be friends. I don’t want you to give me false hope. I don’t want you to flick some switch in your brain that says that you’re allowed to be nice to me, and then you turn it off so quick as if it never happened.”

No response. It’s ear piercing now; like if you dropped a speck of dust on the ground you would even be able to hear that, as Itaru gets more and more red, and Chikage’s face stays the same.

“Okay. I got it.” He gets out of bed quickly. “I understand.” He stomps off to the shower, taking clothes with him and some lotion to the bathroom. “I’m taking a shower.” He deadpans, and practically slams the door of the hotel bathroom.

Chikage sighs.

God, he feels like shit.

Does he?

Maybe he doesn’t know himself, but all he knows is that there’s some odd pit in his stomach that probably just hints quite a bit at him feeling like shit. It’s fine. It’s not like he hasn’t been through this before. All he has to do is push through it. It is odd. Considering all the shit he’s done, he doesn’t think he should be feeling bad. He means, he’s killed people, no remorse, just straight up dead, and that was fine. He can hear Itaru in the bathroom seemingly slamming shit on the counter, and dropping the soap with an “ugh.”

The feeling scrapes at his nerves, stretching him thin and fragile, as if he was just an elastic fabric that, of course, is still intact, but is transparent, being stretched far too much. The walls of the hotel feel both confining to him, and a bit too loud. He doesn’t think that loud is the correct word choice, but he thinks that too. But here he is, still typing away at his laptop; nothing coherent of course, but at least it’s something. Not really. It barely distracted him. He runs his hands through his hair, sighing again, and looking out the window that gives him an overview of most of the city, the cars running through the street like little bugs, but the moonlight can barely break through the raucous light of the city. He can still see it though, so he gets up to stretch, even though he doesn’t feel as if it’s necessary. He walks over to the window, looking up at the moon, and then looking down at his feet.

He takes a seat on the bed, for no reason, looking around a bit, before getting up and walking slowly to his chair, some document still wide open on his screen, and the shower somehow still going-- probably in preparation for tomorrow. He still acknowledges that skin care is important somehow, even when Azami isn’t there to drill it into their heads. It’s been three years. He doesn’t know why he’s so surprised. He shouldn’t be so surprised. Things change. He’s more than well aware of that. But somehow, he still feels stagnant, even with everything. The world has reached a standstill, but that doesn’t matter to him. He doesn’t need to change anymore. Not since… he skips right over that thought, but he knows that he shouldn’t, because it should bear no weight anymore. Seems like everyone else has gotten over it.

Hisoka.

It’s hard to talk about still, for him, and maybe for others. Who knows, when they can visit Hisoka’s grave. He guesses it gives people more closure. But the more he thinks about Itaru and Hisoka, the more he wants to care for him. He means, just being the slightest bit related to him puts people in danger. Maybe he shouldn’t have forced Itaru on this trip. Well, he didn’t. Itaru said “yes” for some unbeknownst reason that confuses him still to this day.

Hisoka.

But even then, the thought still comes to his mind. It felt nice. Felt nice to genuinely care for someone, after leaving them for so long, to protect them and still be able to have them, and be able to hold them after so long. Maybe it’s the situation. Chikage doesn’t want to hurt Itaru. That sentence makes him almost keel over, but he acts normal as the faucet is turned, and the sound of running water suddenly stops, and he can hear the shower curtain, as if every single environmental sound is turned up to max volume.

Hisoka.

He’s dead. That’s the end of that. He’s dead, and he shouldn’t care, and he should have learnt his lesson, because anything-- almost anything would be better than him being here, right now. He should have said no. He should have said no to the mission, and he should have said no to his boss, but he didn’t and now he’s paying the price. Filled with emotional turmoil and hurt. Thinking back, maybe he was just unlucky. Or maybe it was fated. It was fated for them to meet again after being away for so long, so why, why would some higher power put them together. It’s as if the big man upstairs wants him to suffer-- even if he doesn’t exactly believe in them.

Hisoka.

The thought tires him out, and he finally notices that he’s stopped writing things on this report, which he tries to start again, but he doesn’t even know where to gather himself after… after that. He’s still thinking though, which makes himself throw back his head in anger? Disappointment? Whatever. Whatever emotion it is, he could honestly care less. He’s stressed and he doesn’t want to be here anymore. He’s tired. He’s so tired. It’s taken a long time to find that out.

Hi--

He doesn’t even finish the thought this time. He stops thinking. He doesn’t know how, but he’s completely stopped all brain processes that go on. This is better. It feels calm. His vision feels like it’s cleared up, and he can start typing whatever he was typing in this document for some reason. Itaru walks out of the bathroom, completely clothed, and looking a bit fresh.

“I’m going to sleep.”

No response.

chapter 1 / chapter 2 / chapter 3 / chapter 4 / chapter 5 / chapter 6

#a3 #a3!#a3!chikage #a3!itaru #a3! chikaita #ckit #chikage utsuki #itaru chigasaki #a3 fanfiction #a3! fanfic

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lunarr-rrose · 4 years

Video

Corona Virus Predictions

Hi! My name is Fernando Angelucci. I'm The Storage Stud. I've been getting questions recently on how the storage business would be affected during Corona Virus as well as post Corona virus. And that's a really great question. So there's a lot of things to take into account here. You know, one of the things that we always look at is that self storage services people in transition. And with the breakout of Corona Virus and the extended period that it's been kind of affecting the nation. We're going to see a lot of people in transition because of it. So one example is a good friend of mine, Scott, brought up, you know, a lot of people are now looking at moving out of densely populated, you know, urban cores, you know, downtown cities like ours in Chicago. And actually moving out to say an acreage that's 50 or a hundred miles out of the city center. So someone like that, they may be moving from a smaller space, say 900 square foot condo to a larger space, maybe a 1500 or 2,400 square foot home. And those people are going to need storage. Even though they're going to a place that has larger space. One of the things to think about is, you know, the whole process, the logistics of selling your home and then buying a new home. Usually it's a lot easier to sell your existing home and then go make an offer on the new home that you'd like to live in. The reason why is when sellers are looking at prospective buyers on the properties, and I'm speaking from experience here because I'm also a licensed real estate agent. If that offer has a contingency that says I'm not able to buy your home until I sell my previous home, usually those offers will go to the bottom of the, bottom of the pile. So what most people opt for and what a lot of real estate agents will advise their clients to do is actually sell their existing home first that accomplishes many things. Number one, it takes off, you know, your mortgage liability off of your credit. So you look better to your lenders. It also causes an issue of storage. So these people are going to have to store their goods somewhere temporarily, you know, maybe move in with some relatives or a friend or go into a hotel while they're searching for their next purchase. And so that's going to be an ideal customer that would use self storage. The second part of this is, we as humans, especially in the Western world, we tend to accumulate possessions and those possessions will usually expand to fill the space that we give them. So kind of like a gold fish. A goldfish will always grow so that it fits in its environment. I've noticed kind of the same thing with, you know, people in the Western world. You move from 900 square foot condo to a 1500 square foot home. And all of a sudden within a year or two, that home is filled up. And then you go from a 1500 square foot home to a 2,400 square foot home. And then again in a year or two, all of a sudden now the attic and the basement and the garage are also filled to the brim and you're going to have to go use storage. So these are kind of two sides of the customer life cycle. You have the people in transition where they're gonna need storage services temporarily. And then later on, you're going to have more of a longer term client. That's going to use your storage facility as a way to augment their existing space. Cause you know, they really need that jet ski. Or they really want to, you know, have a full set of decorations for every holiday in the year. I mean, they just need a place to store that stuff. That's out of sight out of mind. So that's one of the potential effects from Corona virus. Another thing is in the opposite direction, say you still want it stay in the urban core, but you want to downsize because maybe you were furloughed or let go, when you can no longer afford your rents or your mortgage payment. You're going to go ahead and go find some place that is a little bit more cozy, if you will. That will be able to support the financial needs that you have. You know, maybe all of a sudden your income drops in half because one of the partners in the household and one of the adults in the household can no longer afford. Or maybe you live on your own and your pay was cut in half. Or they cut your hours in half if you're an hourly worker. So what you may opt to do is go from 1,200 square foot place down to a 700 square foot place, and then opt to pay for an additional 50 to a hundred square feet of storage that you use as kind of a closet, if you will. For example, I'm a millennial. I like to live near the action. I like to live downtown Chicago. And, and the prices here are not as affordable if I were to live, say in the suburbs or in the exurbs. So what a lot of people my age are doing nowadays is we're opting for a smaller living space. And then just getting some auxiliary storage on the side that we use as our seasonal closet. So for example, in the summer, I'll put all of my winter clothes into my storage unit and vice versa when the seasons reverse, or maybe I'm someone that likes to be very athletic and enjoys the outdoor activities. Maybe I have a kayak that doesn't fit in my tiny apartment. So I'm going to put that kayak in a storage facility. Or skis or snowboard, materials, things like that. And just go use that as a closet. So anytime I'm going on a trip to go do those things, I just stop at my storage facility first. Then I go to my final destination. So that's another aspect of the effects of COVID or Corona Virus on, you know, the self storage industry today, but then also in the future. So we always will serve people in transition that just need a temporary place to put their stuff. Another effect that that we're seeing is there's kind of this shift in mentality of where people want to live. As I mentioned in the previous example, say you no longer like being, you know, really in close quarters with people and you just want to move somewhere that's farther away from people, but maybe you don't want to splurge for, you know, a large home. So maybe it's a combination of both of those previous examples where you're going to a smaller home that's farther away from the urban core. These are all the type of things that we need. Shifting over from the residential side to more of the commercial or the business side. A lot of businesses recently have been opting to go a hundred percent virtual. They don't want to have the office where you bring a bunch of people together that can possibly cause a, you know, a contagion to spread. So they're opting to get rid of their office lease or even sell their office buildings. If they own them. Allow all their employees to work remotely. But these companies still have things that they need to store. Documents storage, especially in the financial or in the legal professions. And same thing in the medical professions. Say, it's, it's a company that had a flex space where half of of the building was office building. And then the other half was warehousing. They may opt to sell that building or terminate their lease and then use a self storage facility as an intermediary point or as a temporary storage. So for example, in one of our very first facilities that we purchased, there was a tortilla company and they made tortillas for tacos and burritos and all those things. And what they did was the production facility was in downtown Chicago, but they would ship their tortillas around the Midwest. So what they would do is for the ease of the semi-trucks to get to the materials that need to be shipped, they would actually first ship the tortillas from their production facility to our self storage facility, about an hour and a half outside of the city, that was closer to a lot of highways. And then they would drop them off at the storage facility. And then once a week or twice a week, a semi truck would actually pull up into our facility and then unload those units of the tortillas, put them in the truck and then ship them to their final destination. So that's another example of how the storage climate is being affected in a positive way by Corona Virus. Just some, even some personal stories. You know, there's a lot of schools that have shut down. Both higher education, as well as the K through 12 schools. And they have moved most or all of their education online for the time being until it's safe to have people congregate again. So what a lot of these students that say we're living on campus are doing is now instead of hauling all of their stuff back to their home, which can be anywhere in the country or even in the world. You know, we have a lot of international students that come in the United States for the education here. Those people are opting for storing their stuff in a storage facility for a few months, until this all blows over, as opposed to getting, you know, a full moving truck and going from New York to California or Chicago to Utah or whatever it is. I personally, when I went to school down at the university of Illinois, every summer, instead of, you know, hauling all my stuff back home to my parents' house and then doing it and bringing it all the way back down to university of Illinois again, the following semester, I'll just opt to use a storage facility near the campus. The reason why was a lot of those rental properties, they would actually have a nine month lease that coincided with the school year, which then allowed them throughout the summer to go through and rehab the properties and, you know, paint all the units and clean the carpet. So they wouldn't even allow us to have overlapping leases that allow us to move from one apartment to the next apartment. So I would always just use a storage facility, just North of Champagne for that purposes. And I did that for five years, five summers in a row. I used that storage facility. So those are some examples of how, you know, we're being affected by Corona Virus to the storage industry. And it's all really good for us, believe it or not, you know, self storage is one of those asset types where there's not a lot of people using it at any given time. You know, you may have a 1000 unit facility, and that seems like a lot of doors, but if you're actually at the facility, you'll notice that not a lot of people are there at the same time. You may have one, two or three people moving about in a 100,000 square foot facility or 130,000 square foot facility. And they may never even come in contact with each other, you know, let alone be in close enough quarters for, you know, a virus to spread. So we have been very fortunate in that fact. When I originally went into self storage investments, I didn't do it with this in mind, but this happens to be a plus of the way that self storage works. Another thing too is the storage industry is now moving into a more technologically savvy style of operating. There's a lot of, you know, for example, there are these kiosks that you can place. Where the kiosk will allow you to rent a unit. It will allow you to buy renter's insurance. It'll allow you to buy a lock. It will give you codes to unlock all of the security doors to get to your unit. And you can do all of this without ever having to interact with a person physically. You can do this all on your own and all through your smartphone. So those are some cool things that have happened in the storage industry in the last five to 10 years. And even to the point where now there are contact less doors. There's a system from Janice, which is one of the major suppliers in the space. It's called the NOKE system. The N O K E system. And that allows you to even open your own unit door, just using your phone. It's battery operated. So you never even have to touch any of the surfaces in the self storage facility. So hope you enjoyed this video. My name is Fernando Angelucci. I'm The Storage Stud. If you'd like to learn more about self storage, buying self storage, investing in self storage, what have you feel free to visit us and drop us a line at our website. www.TheStorageStud.com ------------------------------------------------------------------ Fernando O. Angelucci is Founder and President of Titan Wealth Group. He also leads the firm’s finance and acquisitions departments. Fernando Angelucci and Steven Wear founded Titan Wealth Group in 2015, and under his leadership, the firm’s revenue has grown over 100% year over year. Today, Find out more at

https://www.TheStorageStud.com http://titanwealthgroup.com/

Titan Wealth Group operates nationwide sourcing off market investment properties for Titan Wealth Group’s acquisition as well as servicing a network of thousands of active real estate investors world wide. Prior to founding Titan Wealth Group, Fernando worked for Dow Chemical, a Fortune 50 company, rolling out a flagship product estimated to gross $1B in global revenues.

With an engineering background, Fernando is able to approach real estate investing with a keen analytical mindset that allows Titan Wealth Group to identify opportunities and project accurate pictures of future performance.

Fernando graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a B.A. degree in Technical Systems Management.

Titan Wealth Group was founded in 2015 with the vision of gathering individual investors that have the means to invest but lack either the time to find high-yield investment opportunities or the access to these off-market deals. All too often, founders Fernando Angelucci & Steven Wear came across investors who had deployed their capital only to regret the lack of consistency or degree of returns their investments were producing. In response, Titan Wealth Group provides access to highly-vetted real estate secured investments and off-market acquisition opportunities primarily in the Greater Chicago MSA. Today, Titan Wealth Group not only assists individual investors but has grown to support the acquisition goals and capital deployment of investment groups, private equity firms, and real estate investment trusts (REITs). As a facilitator of wealth growth, Titan Wealth Group believes that success is not limited to the sum of our efforts and is infinite with what can be accomplished through partnership.

#SelfStorage #RealEstateInvesting #AlternativeFunds

#real estate #real estate investing #the storage stud #storage stud #fernando angelucci #self storage #alternative funds

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thatpinkshinobi · 5 years

Text

The longest year

Hey! I was bored today and I started to write a couple of things and ended with a little one-shot for my OTP.

Honestly, they are just some drabbles pulled together.

· · ·

Summary: Kakashi works on his feelings, fighting against fate. Kakasaku fic. 2.7k words

· · · · · · · · · ·

Rain poured in front of them, Kakashi took it as a bad omen, nothing would be okay after that day. Sun wouldn't shine again. At least for him.

Sakura leaned against the rail, her hair falling down to one side, hiding her face from him.

"It's not going to work, right?"

Kakashi sighed. Her words ached more than he thought.

"No." He managed to say, not sure of his own voice.

The rain kept falling down.

"Thank you." Sakura turned her face slightly.

Kakashi smiled sadly, he had thaught her good. Her face was emotionless, her eyes didn't sparkle as they used to. Her pink nose betrayed her unspilled tears. He hated himself for causing her pain, but it was the best for her.

"I'm sorry," Kakashi whispered.

"Please Kakashi, just don't..." Sakura bit her lip. She mouthed a couple of times, not able to say what she was feeling. "See you around."

Sakura patted his shoulder. That would be the last time she would go through that door, the last time she would be at their home.

· · · · ·

Kakashi wondered how fate worked. Once he had thought his life would be miserable, that it would end before his thirties, that he wouldn't enjoy seeing his friends getting older or he wouldn't be there to witness a life where peace existed.

Where his only worry was if he was running late for dinner.

Life was hard. Simple as it sounded, Kakashi knew it better than anyone. For the last thirty-something years he hadn't asked too much in return. He thanked for every new day, knowing that it could be the last he lived.

But life had taken an unexpected turn. A pink spark of joy.

· · · · ·

Kakashi sat on his usual spot, he wasn't aware he had a favorite place until he found himself sharing his space with someone else. Her chair rested on the other side of the coffee table, a book remained open on the seat.

Kakashi looked around his apartment.

He hadn't noticed how much she had crawled into his life, little things like the two cups on the board, the fridge full of healthy food, the set of beauty products on his bathroom. It started with a hairbrush, and it had ended with her mail delivered to his place.

Kakashi knew that one day she would be back to retrieve her things, and it would be like nothing had happened. One year faded into oblivion. Not even their friends would know about it.

· · · · ·

That had been his mistake. Kakashi thought. One of many he had done.

For the last year, he had been dating Sakura, they had decided to keep it secret until he felt comfortable with the situation. Fear was guilty of never feeling enough around her. No one knew about their secret.

Every night, while she rested between his arms, she promised him they would make it, that they would find a way to make it work. Kakashi knew she was doing all the job, leaving him with the simple task of accepting what she had to give. But again, he failed her.

· · · · ·

Being the Hokage gave you enough time to think about you had accomplished until that day. Kakashi frowned, knowing that he hadn't achieved anything other than missions and his current role. Nothing worth to mention. He had failed to his team, he had failed to his students, and now he had failed what could have been his life partner.

Whenever he thought about the good things he had done recently, all were thanks to Sakura. She had self-proclaimed his lifeguard, guiding him around, helping him from drowning in his own misery.

Kakashi appreciated all the time Sakura had spent on him, but he was not worthy. She was young and free. He wouldn't be the one to deny her the joys of life. Sakura deserved someone who protected her, someone capable of loving her unconditionally.

She didn't need an old rag, full of fears, afraid of commitment.

· · · · ·

It had been a month since he had broken Sakura's heart, Kakashi thought he would drift back to his old life. He was wrong.

Every night he woke up drenched in sweat, always the same nightmare. Kakashi awaited her reassuring touch for a fraction of second. Those seconds were worst than his dream, the deepness of his loneliness reminded him that she was gone. He as the only responsible for her going.

Kakashi looked around, those four walls, the only witnesses of his tears. Had he done the right thing? Wasn't him man enough to accept his errors and run back to her arms? How long would it be before he was driven into madness?

He knew that sooner than later, someone would knock at his door at three am, wondering what those awful noises were. How would he explain that those howls for help were his?

A shy knock on his window reminded him that he wasn't alone. Tenzō and his room would be the only witnesses of his mental break downs.

Kakashi lay down, taking her pillow, shrugging against her. The faint scent of her shampoo fading day after day.

Kakashi wished he could blame someone else for his choices, someone who he could point and accuse of all his disgraces. Someone who could take responsibility for his own actions.

Someone who could grab him by the neck and force him to see the biggest mistake of his life. Someone who could lead her back to her.

Someone who told him it wasn't too late.

· · · · ·

Kakashi sat on his office, his desk to his back and Konoha in front of his eyes. He wasn't sure how he had ended it there. His mind was working automatically for him.

People should feel proud of him, he had attended every appointment he had and worked on the papers above his desk. By the end of the day, he even had managed to visit the academy before returning to his office.

It felt like a dream, Kakashi could see himself working, but it wasn't him. It was the body of a lifeless person, just as the bodies of Edo Tensei. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt like himself, he felt obligated to continue his life, despite his efforts to end everything.

He didn't want to feel anything, and finally, he had succeeded.

· · · · ·

Kakashi felt they would be okay when he saw her hanging around with her friends. She wasn't laughing or smiling, but at least she was sharing time with people. He, on the other hand, was mourning his loss at the top of his office. Tsunade shook her head behind him.

"You are neglecting yourself," Tsunade left a bento box next to him. "She knows it too."

Knowing she still asked for him stirred his stomach. It wasn't a nice feeling.

Kakashi locked his eyes on hers. His skinny hand pushed the food away. He wondered when was the last time he had a proper meal.

"Starving yourself to death wouldn't be the brightest thing to do Kakashi," Tsunade closed her hand around his arm. "I don't know how your decision was the best choice."

"She needs to be with someone who provides her happiness," Kakashi sighed. "What if she wants a family, how can I offer her something I didn't have?"

Tsunade bit her lip.

"She's not doing good," She waited, thinking if her next words would be helpful or not. They weren't. "She misses you."

Kakashi wanted to say that he missed her too, that everything would be okay, that he wanted her to stay. That he needed her more than air, that the simple thought of having her back to his life would be the greatest accomplishment of his life. That he would die for her, as long as she came back to his life.

Kakashi sighed. Hating his mixed feelings.

"I'm not sure how to feel about it."

He wouldn't be lying again, he needed her back.

· · · · ·

Tsunade hid her smile from Kakashi. It had taken the dumbass six months to realize he loved her. Six months were she had seen him lost all of his will and his health. The way his cloak hanged around his bony shoulders made her shudder. He had it worse than her student.

Neither Kakashi or Sakura knew that Tsunade was aware of their relationship. She had seen it coming and expected it to end on a wedding and babies. But not even her had counted with the closed mind of the silver-haired man, the obnoxious little brat had been so selfish to let Sakura into his heart.

And now she had two broken hearts leading the safety of the village.

She needed a plan, she needed to do it now.

"Come on Kakashi walk with me..." Tsunade took the bento box and tugged his hand to the door. "Did I ever told you I was in love with Jiraiya?"

Tsunade smiled sadly. She wouldn't let them commit the same mistake.

· · · · ·

When Kakashi though things were getting better, rumors started to reach his ears. His world sank deep into the pit.

The Godaime's apprentice was getting married.

Everything started after Sakura left for an extended mission to Suna. She had spent six months around their children hospital and secret missions with the Kazekage.

Shikamaru had been the first person to end the rumors.

"She's marrying Kankuro."

Kakashi didn't need the background story. Any man would die to marry her. Even him.

For the last six months, he had worked on his mental health, Tsunade had provided enough guidance, helping him to feel confident about him and Sakura. Even hopeful. He knew he was on the right path to fulfill her needs, he wouldn't hide in the shadows like the last time. He loved her.

"...she's not coming back."

All his hard work would be for nothing. He had missed the opportunity that fate had given him.

"Out," Kakashi growled.

· · · · ·

Shikamaru was a smart person. He didn't need to be told twice, he left the room, closing the door behind him.

It didn't matter that Kakashi wasn't on his best form, he still could be lethal. Not for nothing, he was the Hokage.

Tsunade leaned against the wall, shaking her head. The sound of obscenities being yelled filled the air. A series of noises repeated for minutes, every time something bigger crashing against the wall.

Silence came after an hour. Shikamaru and Tsunade waited outside the room.

Kakashi emerged from the room, bloody fists hanged at each side of his body. His eyes burned with a thousand fires. Tsunade smiled, finally, some emotion played around those charcoal orbs.

"CLEAN THIS SHIT!" Kakashi roared as he walked down the hall.

"Does he..." Shikamaru pointed at his back.

"He will be alright."

· · · · ·

Kakashi couldn't believe what he had done. Was this part of his plan of becoming a better man?

Positively, it didn't.

He ran his bloody hands around his face, his knuckles ached every time he opened his hands.

Where it was that blonde with her medic skills when he needed her?

Anger blinded his sight. Everything was red, he wanted to smash and destroy things.

He indeed was stupid.

It took him a year to realize he loved her.

And now she was gone.

But when he believed he couldn't be more stupid, he sent that hawk to Suna. Asking, no, demanding her back to Konoha. He didn't care if she didn't love him anymore, he deserved it. But he wouldn't deny his opportunity to prove her wrong, that it was going to work.

They had a future together.

· · · · ·

By the time Tsunade found him on his apartment, his fists were two purplish masses. His breathing was irregular, but his eyes still sparkled with that mischievous look.

"The Kazekage is not happy with your request." Tsunade laughed. "What on earth made you write that letter?"

"I need her back, I don't care if I start the fifth Ninja war."

"Uhm..."

Tsunade smiled. Her hands closed around his when she extended his fingers, a hiss left his lips. She ignored him as her chakra healed all the little fissures around his knuckles.

"What else did the letter said?" Kakashi asked her, his voice cautious.

"Why don't you discover it by yourself?"

Tsunade left his side, letting him see behind her back.

Kakashi gasped.

· · · · ·

Two green eyes observed him carefully.

Tsunade stroke his cheek tenderly before leaving them alone.

Kakashi had a regression, it was like that first time she had spent the night in his place. Her eyes were curious but wary.

"Is it the truth?" her voice was hoarse.

She lifted the scroll he had sent to Suna.

Kakashi nodded.

Tears fell from her face, a thousand emotions overwhelmed her.

"Every single word."

Kakashi tapped his feet nervously, waiting for her reaction. His fingers ached, no longer by the bruises, but by the need of feeling her skin against his.

Kakashi saw a pink glow before a tender body smashed against his. Her hands traveled to his mask, taking it away, revealing what she had missed. He took her in his arms, leveling his face with hers. Tears flooded like rivers down her cheeks, her giggles mixed with cries.

"Oh, Kakashi!" She cried against his lips.

Kakashi wanted to say a lot of things, but his body craved what he had missed for the last twelve months. Every kiss tasted salty, he couldn't tell if it was because of her tears or his.

Kakashi held her tight to his chest, feeling the rhythm of her heart against his, beating as one.

"I'm sorry..." He cried, trailing kisses down her jaw. "I never understood before..."

"Don't..." Sakura took his head between her hands. "I love you."

Kakashi smiled.

"I love you too."

· · · · ·

Kakashi was sure fate was different for everyone. But it didn't mean you couldn't change it. Nothing was written over a stone.

And he was happy about it. He wanted to rewrite his future.

If someone had told him years ago, he would be marrying his former student, he would be laughing about it.

But fate proved him wrong, once again.

Kakashi had been nervous when he saw her walk down the aisle dressed in white. His hands sweated uncontrollably. Genma smiled at him, giving him his handkerchief to dry his hands. He winked at him, assuring him everything would be alright.

And it was.

Until he felt the first kick against Sakura's bump, the little knock against his hand sent shivers down his spine.

Would he be able to do it?

That question kept woking him in the middle of the night, until the day the little creature burst outside Sakura.

When Kakashi arrived at the hospital, he found most of his friends in the waiting room, they congratulated him for having such a beautiful baby.

Kakashi growled. Everyone had seen his baby except him. Kakashi damned the council for keeping him away from that moment. His stupid meetings and last-minute missions could have waited.

Now he was in front of the door, just inches away from Sakura and the offspring of their love.

Kakashi knocked twice before her voice answered him.

"Come in!"

Kakashi walked inside the room, moving in his tiptoes around the bed, the little bump in her arms moved slightly. A glance of silver caught his attention.

"Do you want to hold her?" Sakura offered him the bump. He shook his head.

"Her?"

A drop of cold sweat ran down his neck. A girl? They were expecting a boy. What was he supposed to do with a girl?

Sakura giggled.

"Kakashi, I want to introduce you to Hatake Hayami."

Sakura uncovered the baby on her arms.

When the bump heard her name, she opened her eyes. Two pair of green eyes sparkled, leaving Kakashi breathless.

His world no longer gravitated around him, nor Sakura.

Everything that mattered disappeared, his world had a new reason to live.

Kakashi knew everything would be okay when their baby greeted him, she had been waiting for him.

And for once, fate had smiled at him.

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overwatch-does-stuff · 4 years

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Overwatch: A Seminar in Pity and Remorse

Summary: Dr. Mina Liao has just joined Overwatch. The Crisis and the weeks that have followed have felt like nothing more than a distant fantasy for her. However, a chance meeting with another Overwatch member brings her back to reality, and perhaps even provides her with a bit of lucidity.

Dr. Mina Liao sat at the cold, grey desk, her hands on the keyboard, the computer screen blank. The rest of the room was just as empty. Just as impersonal. She hadn't gotten the opportunity to bring any of her former office's decorations: considering her previous facility had been destroyed, that was not surprising. Also unlike her former workplace at the Omnica factory, everything was completely silent. Overwatch had two moods, Mina found- either bustling, busy with troops and mission preparations, or deathly quiet, when those troops were out, or when they came back and the sense of failure and lost hope permeated every inch of the facility. Back at Omnica, even in the off hours the factory was always moving, always busy, always alight with the possibility of new innovation. Here, now, it was quiet, and Mina found that she could not even think of the words to write a daily report. Moving from civilian life to military life had also been a difficult adjustment to make. Commander Morrison had promised that she was to be treated as a civilian scientist, not a soldier. It was at once relieving but alienating. The people she should consider coworkers. . . weren't. Not in the same sense. She was different, not having seen the battlefield like they had. It was a barrier that perhaps could be surmounted in time, but for these first few weeks she had felt like there was an invisible bubble surrounding her that others were afraid to burst by talking to her. A digital clock ticked above the doorway, visible past her computer screen, reminding Mina of the time. It was getting late. She had been told that lights out was at 22:00; it was 21:30 now, and she still hadn't written her daily report yet. Sighing, she stared back into the blank computer screen, willing the words to flow out onto the empty document. None came. Sighing again, with a little bit of a yawn, she got up from the desk. She rubbed her temples. Perhaps tonight she would partake in an old civilian routine- the all-nighter. After all, she still needed to untangle an entire new set of programs just received from an Omnic broadcast, not to mention finish the report of all that she had (not) achieved today. She was going to need coffee, however. She would have much preferred an energy drink but, alas, this was the military. She snorted a little at the thought before leaving her office. The silence followed her into the surrounding halls, the sound of her footsteps being the only interruption. She suddenly felt self-conscious about the sound of her heels clicking against the linoleum floor. Thankfully, the breakroom was not too far away. The oppressive hallways opened up into a slightly larger space, with the same cold metal tables and chairs that populated the offices, and a counter against the far wall, with the usual fridge, microwave, and of course, the coffeemaker. In this room there was also a slight breeze from a small air conditioning vent in the ceiling. It gave off a small hum and she relished the sound of machinery. Goodness, she really needed that coffee if she was finding joy in the sound of an air conditioner. Mina approached the coffeemaker and hunted around for the coffee grounds and a mug in the surrounding drawers. She quickly found both (she had been here for a few weeks, after all) and prepped the machine accordingly. The sound of the percolation again brought her some small comfort as it filled the silence. Behind her she heard unfamiliar footsteps coming down the hall, causing her to flinch. It was the sound of big, heavy boots, probably steel-toed but she didn't know for certain. The figure approached the break room and she continued to stare at her brewing coffee. She tried to shield it with her body, to prevent the inevitable judgement that came from brewing coffee this late at night. She heard the creaking of one of the metal chairs, and the sound of a glass bottle being set down on on of the tables. There was a deep grunt, then a pause. Then the sound of a vigorous swig. Curiosity overcame her and she turned around. Sitting at the table closest to her was a short, blonde-haired man with an impressive beard. In his hand was a bottle of alcohol of some type. The man looked her in the eye and took a sip from the bottle. "So," he greeted, his accent thick and obviously European, though Mina couldn't place from which country it was from, "you're one of us who was responsible for this whole mess, aren't you?" Suddenly, the man's face lined up with her memories. This was Torbjorn Lindholm, premier engineer of SST Laboratories. A feeling of dread swept through Mina. No doubt he had recognized her immediately from her former position as well. "Well, do you speak?" Mr. Lindholm asked. "Yes." She replied, but found that she had nothing else to say. Mr. Lindholm laughed a deep, throaty laugh that resounded throughout the otherwise quiet room. He then took another sip from his bottle. Mina felt like she was about to crumble under the weight of his gaze. "I take it you don't want to sleep either." He gestured with his bottle to the coffeemaker behind her. Her mug was now full of the steaming hot substance. Mina nodded, "I have work to get done." "Right. Of course you do." He snickered a shook his head. "That's what we tell ourselves." "What do you want?" She put her hands in her pockets to hide her trembling hands. He ignored the question and gestured once more to his bottle. "I used to be like you with the coffee. Now I use this to get to sleep." A beat of silence passed. "Do you want some? Not too much, just enough to calm down. Rest is important." Mr. Lindholm held out the bottle to her. The miasma of alcohol reached her nose, and she quickly turned away. "No. I don't drink." She replied. "Your loss." He shrugged. After another uncomfortably long pause, where she shifted her weight from leg to leg, she finally asked, "Why are you here?" "Can't sleep. I was hoping for a bit of company within this god-forsaken building." Mina looked to the oppressive armored walls that surrounded even this humble break room. It was nothing like the modern, open space of any of the Omnica facilities. And no doubt, nothing like the layout of SST Laboratories either. "You were there when it all started, right?" Mina voiced her thoughts aloud. He nodded. "Yes. I had to fight my way out of the factory. You?" So that would explain his steel-toed boots and mission assignments. She shook her head. "I was rescued by the military." To face trial later was left unsaid. A slight shiver of shame passed through her. "No shame in that." Mr. Lindholm replied. His seeming nonchalance was enough to make her agitation boil over. She grit her teeth, and turned around to face her coffee. It was no longer steaming. She dumped two sugars in, grabbed a stir stick, and stirred vigorously, sending some of the brown liquid sloshing over the side of the mug and onto the counter. When she turned back around, mug in hand, however, he was still sitting there. Looking at her. Sipping his drink. "When are you going to say it?!" She snapped at him, again spilling her coffee, this time on the floor. "Say what?" He replied. She walked forward and slammed her coffee down onto his table. "When are you going to tell me that this is all my fault? When are you going to explain to me how I could have prevented all this from happening? Because I'm tired of waiting, Mr. Lindholm, so say it now!" The action startled him. He flinched backwards in his chair. A puzzled expression settled over his face, and it made Mina pause in her tirade. In the background, the hum of the air conditioner filled the silence. But then, Mr. Lindholm began to laugh. He guffawed, shaking his head and even slapping his knee a few times. It made Mina's stomach twist into knots. "You think-" He said in between fits of laughing, "you think that you get to take all the blame?" She looked at him, now equally puzzled as he had just been. "I created the Omnic technology." "No no no. You don't get to take my blame." He answered. "You and I, we both did this." "No! It's not your fault. I designed the Omnic software." She protested in return. "And who do you think taught it how to kill? Who put weapons on their frames and augmented them with targeting protocols? I did." He pointed to himself. "You worked for SST Laboratories, yes, but who sold the Omnic tech to them? Omnica. And you received a flawed product. My flawed product." Mina replied. "Mr. Lindholm, you and I both know that an engineer can't be blamed for faulty materials!" "Good engineers are supposed to double check the materials! Re-check the calculations! And guess what? I didn't!" He stood up from his chair. His face was red and his hands trembled, though whether that was from the anger or the alcohol Mina was not certain. His eyes, however, were crystal-clear in their gaze. Eventually, he blinked and looked away. "You don't get to take my guilt and just wave it away with your fingers." He took a deep breath, then sat back down in his chair. He took a sip from his bottle, then turned away, facing the wall instead of her. Mina grabbed her mug and turned back around to the counter. She took a small sip of her coffee. It was only lukewarm now. She turned back around. Mr. Lindholm hadn't moved yet. There was a straight shot to the hallway beyond past him, back to her office, back to her empty computer screen and unfinished report. But she knew he would be able to hear the click of her heels against the tile. So instead, she came to the other side of the table, more gently than she had previous. She set down her mug and pulled out the chair with a sliding creak. She sat down. "You shouldn't have to feel so bad." She said simply. When he did not reply, she kept going. "You shouldn't need to lose sleep over this, or need to drink because of this, or. . ." She took a shuddering breath. Mr. Lindholm was looking at her now, but he stayed quiet. Waiting. ". . . you were a long ways down the chain of mistakes, Mr. Lindholm." She continued. "You shouldn't feel like you should have to shoulder the blame for the Crisis. That's mine. It should be." She felt her throat clench, and she swallowed the lump. "Don't call me that. Sounds too formal. I've never liked formal. Call me Torbjorn." He said. His remark swept by her without making much impact. She was too focused on trying to hold back the tears that were welling up in her eyes. "Sure." "You know, a chain is made up of many, equal links. It doesn't matter how far down along I was. If any link fails-" He began. "You shouldn't feel so bad about this. It should only be me! You shouldn't have to suffer because of my mistakes." The sentence burst forth from her unbidden. "In case you haven't noticed, the entire world is suffering because of our mistakes, so it's a little too late for that." Torbjorn replied. His sentence hit her like a freight train. He was right. The entire world was in the midst of an international Crisis caused by what she might have discussed over lunch a few weeks ago with a fellow coworker. "Omnics running wild with murderous AI." She said. "Killing people with my weapons." Torbjorn added. Both SST laboratories and all Omnica facilities were the first things to be overtaken by the robotic horde. Now the factories pumped out new Omnics by the thousands to fuel their relentless onslaught on the entirety of humanity. Now millions of people were suffering. Millions. Probably even billions. "We're the bringers of the apocalypse." She uttered. A hint of a smile played on his lips, and with that, they both began to laugh. She began to cry as well, hot tears making themselves known by rolling down her cheeks. Her body shook with the gut-wrenching laughter, pocketed with the occasional hiccuped sob. "If my designs wipe out the planet, then I'm going to consider myself the best damn engineer of all time!" Torbjorn pounded his chest. "The best hardware engineer. Remember- the software- it's mine." Mina replied in between breaths. "Of course, of course! Two sides, same coin." "Same coin." She echoed. Torbjorn held up his bottle. "Cheers?" "I think if either of us finish our drinks, we're going to regret it." She replied. Her coffee was cold now, anyway. "So does that mean you're going to try and go to sleep, then?" He asked. "Because if so, I wish you the best of luck." "Somehow I've been managing to do it every day since this all started. I'm sure I'll find a way." She got up from her chair. She grabbed her mug of cold coffee and walked back over to counter. She poured out the beverage into the sink, then left the mug within. Torbjorn got up from his seat as well, and his bottle now had a lid. "Goodnight, Mina." He said. "Goodnight, Torbjorn." She replied. He walked out of the breakroom. She waited behind, listening to the mechanical hum of the air conditioner fill the voids in between the footfalls of his steel-toed boots.

#overwatch #overwatch fanfiction #Dr. Liao #Dr. Mina Liao #overwatch echo #(technically)#overwatch hero 32 #torbjorn #torbjorn lindholm #overwatch torbjorn #Omnic crisis #this fic: my favorite character and the character blizz made to replace him in the lore having a drink together and talking angst

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thinkpad956 · 4 years

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What does the future of technology hold for us?

The future of technology has a lot to do with the applications and trends of technology today. These allow us to glimpse what is to come in the near future on which we are already working. The latest in technology today is the foundation upon which a new advance will come tomorrow. The transformation that these advances will bring about will not only be at the personal or work level, but will involve the whole of society. And for this you have to prepare.

The influence of technology on society is not new. At different times, technological advances have led to changes in societies. But perhaps there have never been such extreme transformations in such a short time as the one ongoing. And that will be seen more clearly when what is known today as the future of technology becomes popular.

The internet of things, 5G, artificial intelligence coupled with robotics, are just some of those technologies that are expected to transform the world. How and with what result remains to be seen. What does seem clear is that technology in society can be very positive if the future of technology is put at the service of society and not vice versa. To prepare for this, there is already a debate on the best way to create smart cities. As well as using robotic labor without reproving human labor to immaturity.

5G and the future of technology

5G is already part of the technology today, although given its implementation and its potential, we are still talking about it as the future of technology. By 2025, 15% of global connections are expected to be 5G. From there to full connectivity there will be few steps. The amount of devices that we can connect to it and each other and its impressive speed are the basis of a revolution at different levels that must be dealt with.

Today many of us connect our computer, mobile phone or tablet to the internet on a daily basis. Also home automation systems, private and public video surveillance cameras. And vehicles, toothbrushes, home appliances and many more in a few years will be connected to the internet. And they will be in more or less extensive networks simplifying life in different ways.

Main added values

It is important to know that 5G will allow a speed that is 100 times higher than that of current connections. This will allow its implementation and development to create smart cities, fairer societies and stronger economies. It is up to everyone to decide how to use the latest technology in a positive way and for the benefit of all.

Thanks to the union of 5G with other technologies such as robotics or artificial intelligence, society as a whole will be able to enjoy great advances. For example? Cities with less crime and better air quality. And controlled traffic and increased road safety, for example. Or surgeons who operate remotely and save lives in the distance.

But also at the individual level, where the smart home will allow you to manage from a single device. And in the distance, the same is a smart vacuum cleaner as a cleaning robot or the heaters in your home, for example.

The influence of future technology in the workplace

Technology in society

One of the great fears that some people have about the advancement of technology today and in the future is how it will influence different work environments and the global economy. And how this will transform society. Some have an apocalyptic view of the subject and imagine a world of starving humans while robots and machines equipped with AI do their work. Others see it as a unique opportunity in history to improve people's lives by achieving fairer societies with greater well-being and quality of life.

In the past, technology has transformed work in offices and factories. Today writing a text on a computer keyboard and getting many copies with a printer is common. And sending instant emails that another person can receive anywhere in the world with internet access only with a smartphone or iPhone is everyday. But it was unthinkable in the days of the typewriter, tracing paper, and mail-order missives.

But the drastic change expected in the future only seems comparable to that of the industrial revolution. Or even be far superior to him. The future of the global economy will depend on how it is faced, but above all, the future of society.

Revolution and reconversion

Authorized voices already request that robots pay a tax similar to those paid by a worker. And that these have an impact on universal incomes for humans, so that this does not suppose the wealth of a few at the expense of an impoverished global society with no signs of being able to improve its situation.

However, while it is true that the future of technology will destroy many jobs, it is also true that it will create new ones. These will simply be different. Less mechanical and more creative. And it will also open new business opportunities in different areas.

That is the great challenge of the future of technology. That technology in society has a positive transformative influence. Greater well-being and quality of life, less work and personal uncertainty, healthier environments.

Some technologies that will change the world in the near future

Biometric technology. This allows identification based on the recognition of a unique and non-transferable physical characteristic of each person. It is already used in facial recognition to unlock some mobile phones. But it can also be based on fingerprint, iris, or finger venous pattern recognition. The implementation of this technology in banking will allow secure payments without a card and without cash. It will also improve customs security. And it will allow you to carry out official procedures remotely from a PC or mobile device with total security, among other advances.

Blockchain. Although it is a current technology, it is talked about because with its better development and implementation it will be a transformative technology. Its possibilities are diverse and relevant in areas such as cyber security. A safer financial system or for secure and private internet voting, among other areas.

AI, IoT, Biotechnology

Artificial intelligence. Its possibilities are immense in areas as diverse as health, public safety or industry, among many others. To a large extent its implementation is linked to robotics. It may sound like a science fiction movie, but it is one of the most developed technologies today, although its implementation is still very small compared to what it will be in a few years.

Internet of things. Home networks of devices connected to the internet will be a reality shortly. Its practical applications and for the comfort of the home and the quality of life of those who inhabit it are diverse and relevant. Technology today already has domotic devices for security and sustainability accessible for little money. Among them, network video surveillance cameras or smart plugs.

Biotechnology. Its practical applications range from improving sustainable food production to creating smart fabrics, among others. It is a subject that I would give to speak very extensively.

Technology today and in the future for the creation of smart cities

The smart city is not an unattainable utopia but something to start working on now to enjoy in the future. Large and medium-sized cities are already implementing actions that with the development of the future of technology. And that will make them fairer, healthier and more livable spaces.

With technological advances, goodwill, the support of creative minds and clear objectives about what a smart city is at the service of citizens, the transformation of cities will take place.

And not just on big issues like lower energy costs or a city with less crime. Also in the care of people for their well-being and health. Reducing the dangers for people with reduced mobility, better-cared for elderly and less alone thanks to robotics, the 5G network and artificial intelligence, cleaner air to reduce diseases derived from pollution, will be some of these changes.

Today's technology is already beginning to create more livable smart cities. And you're laying the groundwork for faster implementation and deployment and reaching more people. Something that will have a seemingly utopian but real transformative effect.

The future of technology will bring transformative changes. Therefore, it is interesting to prepare for them from now on. Not all changes depend on governments and large companies. Creativity, everyday uses and personal decision-making can facilitate the positive transformation of societies.

#future of technology #science & technology

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